


Conquering Masters

by ImpulsiveUserName



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Anxiety, Asphyxiation, Conditioning, Depression, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Consensual Oral Sex, Non-Consensual Spanking, Non-Consensual Touching, Non-Consensual Voyeurism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Esteem Issues, Unhealthy Relationships, Victim Blaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 03:17:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 26
Words: 113,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15039512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpulsiveUserName/pseuds/ImpulsiveUserName
Summary: The ghost zone. With as many unique ghosts as the human world has animals and insects, and an infinity to contain them all, the liklihood that anything truly dangerous would come through a portal was minuscule. But fate has a funny way of doing what you least expect.When a new ghost calling himself the Master steps through Vlad's portal, life as he knows it comes to an end. Now he's bound to a ghost intent on conquering him, physically, mentally, and sexually and his ghost powers are inaccessible.Facing an impossible foe from whom there is no escape, Vlad knows he needs help, but who can he trust? How much can be revealed? And will he be given a choice in the matter?Deviates from cannon after season 3 episode 1.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note - this is a story in which graphic things of a non-con variety happen to Vlad and it all gets tied together with a plot and character development. Vlad is not a good guy, but is not pure evil. This plot bunny could not be ignored, and it definitely isn't for everyone. I wrote it initially just to get it out of my system, but when I actually finished it for a change, I decided to publish. I'm doing a final review of chapters as I go. Mind the tags, please. I will not have further warnings. If the tags make you less interested in this story rather than more interested, this is not the fanfic for you.
> 
> Disclaimer - I do not own Danny Phantom, I'm just borrowing the world for a bit.

Chapter 1

_12:05am, Saturday,  April 14 th, 2007, Amity Park outskirts_

_~Danny~_

“I think – I think that’s the last of them,” Danny panted, securing the Fenton thermos as the tenth ghost of the evening vanished within it.

“So much for movie night,” Sam mused taking the thermos from Danny’s weak grasp as he collected his breath. “What’s with this, anyway? It’s been ages since we’ve seen ghosts best described as ectoplasmic blobs appear.”

“I always thought word got around that Danny would kick their butt,” Tucker nodded agreeably, writing down the last ghost’s details in his PDA. “Maybe this demonstration will show them. It’s 5 minutes after midnight by the way.”

Danny groaned.

“Hopefully my parents fell asleep early, I do _not_ want to explain why I missed curfew _again_ ,”

“Hey, at least it’s Friday! And the movies aren’t going anywhere, we can binge tomorrow! Assuming you aren’t grounded of course. Now can you fly us out of here? Abandoned factories aren’t my thing,” Tucker grinned.

Danny nodded absently taking stock of his surroundings for the first time. They had gotten rather far out from the city center.

“Are you up to it?” Sam asked concerned. Danny merely nodded, wrapping his arms around each Sam and Tucker before taking off.

It did actually take a lot of concentration to do this. If Danny had just lifted his friends the way any human would, his arms would have been leaving bruises. Instead, he had to more or less levitate them to avoid putting too much pressure on vital organs. Sam seemed to understand the effort involved without being told, but Tucker tended to forget.

Danny went invisible as he climbed higher. It would take more than an hour for them all to walk home, so flying made more sense. Still, it was exhausting.

“I wonder if good old Mayor Masters has anything to do with this,” Tucker asked somewhat bitterly, the wind carrying his words away so they were barely audible despite the boy half shouting. “He’s only been mayor for a month and he’s been _way_ too quiet.”

Danny nodded. “I think so too.”

“Oh, come on Danny, don’t you start something,” Sam growled. “We’re lucky Vlad’s behaving. Until we have proof, we really should leave him alone. If you and Vlad fight, everyone will suffer.”

“I can’t just ignore him!” Danny snapped. “Now that he’s mayor, all of Amity Park is literally the dragon’s lair.”

“Yes,” Sam said levelly, trying not to let her impatience show. “All I’m saying is don’t poke a sleeping dragon in the eye.”

“Touché,” Danny muttered, landing softly outside Tucker’s residence.

“Thanks dude,” Tucker yawned. “We can worry about Vlad tomorrow.”

“Bye Tucker,” Danny answered, before taking off again, Sam in tow.

“Danny,” Sam said warningly.

“I’m just going to check and make sure he’s sleeping Sam!” Danny said, flying the few blocks over to her mansion. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

She sent him a scathing look, and he had the good grace to look sheepish.

“Look, I’ll be in and out, don’t worry about it!”

Sam continued to glare.

“Sam, even if he is doing something, I’ll leave, I just have a suspicion all these ghosts are coming from a ghost portal. One that’s outside Fenton Works. If they are, maybe I can destroy it before we end up surrounded by a ghost army.”

Sam sighed. Danny knew she wasn’t happy with him, but he’d made up his mind.

“Just… be careful, ok?”

Danny placed her at her doorstep.

“Careful is my middle name.”

Sam snorted, and handed back the Fenton thermos. Danny took off.

***

Danny wondered, not for the first time, why Amity Park had a mayor mansion.

He floated through the wall intangible and invisible before immediately diving through the floor. If he knew Vlad, the man would have built another lab underground.

Sure enough, after a brief moment of blindness Danny emerged into an open space. It was a lab alright. White tiled floors, glowing pink ecto weapons, and a giant ghost portal. And Vlad himself. At least the elder halfa didn’t seem to have a ghost sense. It was one of the few advantages Danny had.

Vlad was in human form, lying on his back underneath the console that seemed to control his ghost portal. Danny felt a flush of anger. If he had been hunting ghosts due to this man’s technological incompetence…

“Is it broken?” Danny shouted, grinning with amusement as Vlad leapt up and struck his head on the metal console in the process.

“Watch it Plasmius, you’re getting clumsier than my dad,” Danny grinned as the man scowled and rubbed his head. So much for his promise to Sam to just look around, but there was something about Vlad that made Danny crave confrontation.

“Daniel, I _really_ don’t have time for you right now,” Vlad said, but morphed into his ghost form nevertheless. “I’m busy.”

“Busy releasing ghosts into Amity Park with your new ghost portal?”

“No, funnily enough I find it’s easier being Mayor without the town swarming with ghosts. Leave.”

A ray of pink ectoplasm went flying Danny’s way, which he easily dodged. “Hey old man, maybe you should buy some glasses, it could help with your aim,” Danny easily dodged three more shots. “Then again, everything you do is doomed to failure, so maybe not.”

Vlad growled low in his throat. However, Danny was beginning to regret his actions. He definitely wasn’t in top form after all of the night’s ghost hunting and this wasn’t helping.

“Look Vlad, sorry, sorry,” Danny said insincerely. “I just want to make sure your portal is shut down so I can sleep.”

“It’s on, but don’t trouble yourself, I installed a lock-“

Just like that, the portal opened.

Vlad, to his credit, looked shocked.

“A lock, huh?” Danny asked, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow. Vlad surged over to the console. Even at a distance Danny could see a large knob with the word “Locked” to the right and “Unlocked” to the left. The knob was very clearly turned to the “Unlocked” position.

“Butter brickle!” Vlad cursed.

“I know I said you were old, but this is just ridiculous. Have you tried crosswords? I hear they’re good for a failing memory,” Danny quipped.

Vlad’s retort died on his lips as whatever opened the portal crawled through.

Danny was expecting another formless ectoblob like he’d been fighting and chasing all night. What he got was something different.

The ghost that emerged seemed to be dragging itself up from the ground, but once it got through and stood, it looked distinctly human. Danny was reminded of a football player- or maybe an amazon warrior if either of those things were pale as death and glowing faintly blue.

The ghost was mostly uncovered except for what could best be described as a knee length ceremonial loincloth, which was black with silver embroidery. It wrapped around the ghost’s waist and tied at the ghost’s right side (Danny’s left). It seemed to be quite loosely secured and rode as low as was possible for the ghost to still be considered clothed. Black veins were visible under the pale bluish skin and the ghost’s muscles were well defined, from six pack abs to bulging biceps. Danny was forcibly reminded of his alternate timeline elder self.

The ghost’s face was haunting, but distinctly human. His eyes were black as pitch with no discernable pupil and set wide on his broad head between pointed ears. He had a short crop of black hair which was untamed and wild on his head, and oddly for a ghost his arms, chest and legs were also covered in black hair in the manner of most human males, which contrasted sharply with the pale, almost translucent skin. The only other thing of note was a tattoo, consisting of a fist size circle outline at the top of the ghost’s sternum through which a single line was drawn. The line continued around the ghost’s shoulders like a kind of necklace, with little black stiches tattooed at regular intervals.

Danny had a Very Bad Feeling. Something about this ghost oozed malevolence, though he didn’t seem to be interested in any of the room’s occupants. The ghost’s nostrils flared.

“Ghosts,” the specter acknowledged the two halfas with a nod, his voice a gravelly baritone, “I smell human in this house. Have you claimed them?”

“Nobody’s claiming anybody,” Danny shouted, firing green ecto energy. “Back to the ghost zone with…”

Danny’s voice trailed off. The green plasma had hit the ghost’s chest, but instead of pushing him back, it simply dispersed, sinking into the skin seamlessly, the green glow quickly fading. The ghost raised an eyebrow.

“That wasn’t very nice. I have no quarrel with you. I am here to conquer-“

“Eat Fenton thermos!”

The blue light enclosed around the ghost – but nothing was happening. Danny felt himself weakening as he tried to pull the ghost into the thermos but while the blue light connected from thermos to target, the ghost remained stationary, and only his hair wafting as if in a breeze indicated anything was happening at all. Danny stopped, out of breath. That clearly wasn’t going to work. No ghost had ever been able to resist the pull of the thermos before. Danny felt a prickle of fear, dark and cold, trail down his spine. Just what was this thing?

“Have at it,” Vlad said, waving his hand dismissively. He walked over to the portal console, and flicked the switch to locked. Danny was gob smacked.

“Vlad… I know being a super villain is kinda your schtick, but we can’t let some ultra-powerful ghost conquer the world.”

“Who said anything about the world?” The ghost asked bemused at the same time Vlad asked “And how do you suppose we stop him?”

It was only then Danny noticed. Vlad’s gait was stiff, and his expression was frozen in a false smile. Vlad was afraid. He was hiding behind bravado but neither of them knew how to hurt this ghost and if he decided to hurt them…

The ghost laughed.

“Let me start over. Names have power, so I will not give you mine, but if you need to refer to me, you may call me either The Master, or just Master, if you prefer. I am not here to conquer the world, but to conquer one human. That’s all. If you have no claim on this building, I will stay until its resident comes back. As I said - we have no quarrel. Run along.”

“The Master? You know dude, anyone who forces people to call him master must be compensating for something,” Danny scoffed.

The mirth the ghost had been exhibiting earlier vanished, leaving a deep coldness in its wake.

“Oh?” the ghost intoned quietly. “Perhaps a demonstration is in order.”

It happened in an instant.

The ghost took two quick steps forward and aimed a punch at Vlad’s face. Vlad easily raised his arms to block the blow – but where the ghostly fist hit fabric, black rings spawned around each of Vlad’s arms and suddenly a very human Vlad Masters was standing before the foe who was quickly proving himself to be invincible to all known methods.

“… cheese whiz,” Vlad grunted looking wide eyed at the Master, who looked just as surprised as Vlad himself. The moment passed quickly, and the Master was quick to grab Vlads arms, spinning him around. Vlad ended up with his back flush against the ghost’s chest, his wrists held tight in front of him by the Master, effectively pinning him in what looked like a possessive hug. The ghost breathed deep, smelling Vlad’s hair.

“You’re the human who lives here,” the ghost hummed. “Fascinating. You’ll do.”

“Ok, I don’t like him, but you can’t go around overshadowing Vlad,” Danny glared. “It’s next to impossible to overshadow someone who’s half ghost anyway. Believe me, I’ve tried, I could only keep it up for a minute, and that was on a weak clone.”

“Boy, who said anything about overshadowing?”

Danny was confused.

“You said… you wanted to conquer a human?”

“Yes, and what part of that implies overshadowing?” The ghost asked nonchalantly.

A sudden sharp gasp caught Danny off guard.

He looked at Vlad who had uttered the sound and who was twisting desperately in The Master’s grasp.

“I see someone gets it,” The Master laughed.

“You can’t be serious,” Vlad’s voice was high pitched and panicked. Anything that put Vlad on edge couldn’t be good. The fear, which had been licking at the edges of Danny’s consciousness, took a vice grip on his heart.

“Plasmius?” Danny asked warily, hesitantly.  “What is it?”

Vlad licked his lips and opened and shut his mouth a few times. Danny couldn’t see anything unusual going on, but something was clearly very wrong. Maybe the reason Vlad was forced to transform into his human self was because The Master was draining his lifeforce? Maybe it was still occurring? Danny felt a chill go up his spine. As many times as Vlad had tried to waste him, he didn’t want him dead.

“Yeah, _Plasmius_ ,” the ghost purred, eyes crinkled as he smiled. “What do you think I want?”

Vlad attempted to stomp on The Master’s foot, but the blow was deftly dodged, and the Master’s grip only seemed to tighten. Vlad went boneless but the ghost didn’t fall under his weight either. He switched tactics and gave a few more kicks, some connecting with the Master’s shins, but besides a slight wince, the ghost didn’t seem to be phased. Vlad couldn’t free his arms either. His face was flushed with exertion and beads of sweat formed at his brow. Danny was equal parts fascinated and horrified. What could he do? What could he try? The ghost was clearly hurting Vlad somehow-

“Daniel, run,” Vlad breathed, ceasing his struggle.

“What?” Danny croaked. The Master chuckled.

“It’s your fault for taunting the blasted thing!” Vlad snarled. “There is no door to this lab. If he gets you, you’ll be stuck here too, and there’s nothing you can do. I’ll be fine. For once in your life, listen to your betters. Run.”

The Master loosened his grip and gave Vlad a shove, and the man sprawled haphazardly on the lab floor.

“You’re like him,” The Master was excited as he turned on Danny. “And you’re younger. I wonder which of you-“

The ghost’s approach – walking, not floating - was halted as Vlad grabbed his legs from his position on the floor.

“Run!” Vlad roared.

Danny startled. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but Vlad was right. Trying to fight this thing was a lost cause. If Vlad got hurt though…

Danny bolted. The instant he cleared the floor, he blasted a hole in it, opening the ground floor to the lab below. That way at least, Vlad had a chance of escape. And he fled.

He didn’t stop until he reached his house. Thankfully, the ghost shield was down and he phased into his room without a hitch. He took a moment to calm his breathing, then did a quick scope of the place. His parents and Jazz were all sleeping where they should be. No need to explain missing curfew. After quickly releasing the contents of his thermos into the ghost zone, Danny returned to his room.

Danny chewed his lip anxiously. He was worried about Vlad. Vlad of all people! The man who poisoned Sam and Tucker with a deadly virus just to get his help! That had been unnecessary- Danny would have helped without Sam and Tucker being poisoned if he had realized the infection had the potential to be deadly, instead of just ugly. Danny wasn’t that much of a jerk. And now, Vlad was in human form and dealing with a ghost. It had looked like physical attacks may stand a chance. Maybe the ghost could actually be wounded with a gun? Maybe the police should be called?

But now that Danny was away from the danger, it seemed somehow unreal. Vlad would find a way to escape, or negotiate his way out of it. He always did. He said he’d be fine.

_And what if he dies?_ A snide voice asked in the back of Danny’s head. _What would you do then?_

But Danny had a feeling that if the ghost had wanted Vlad dead, he would have killed him already. _Conquer_. Perhaps the ghost intended to make Vlad some kind of servant.

Wondering would get him nowhere, and a lack of sleep certainly wouldn’t help. Danny rubbed his eyes. If only the world knew of his identity. And Vlad’s. Then Danny could wake up his dad or call the police and get it all settled. Given the Master’s abilities it would be impossible to stage an attack alongside either of them without a significant risk that either his or Vlad’s identities would be revealed.

Danny changed into pajamas, feeling uneasy and helpless. He crawled under the covers and hugged himself tight, Vlad’s panic-stricken face in his mind’s eye. If Vlad died, Danny wouldn’t be sad, that wasn’t the issue. If Vlad died and Danny could have prevented it – especially since if Vlad hadn’t acted, Danny may well have been stuck alongside him - Danny wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Thoughts aside there was nothing, nothing at all, that Danny could think of that would stop the Master. He needed to gather his thoughts. He needed to formulate a plan. He couldn’t do either of those things if he didn’t sleep. Vlad would be fine. He said he would be.

It was with these troubled thoughts that Danny drifted off. The Master’s amused laughter followed him into his dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_12:15 am, Saturday, April 14 th, Mayor’s Mansion, lab_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad had been struck. And now for some reason, he was human, powerless in front of a powerful foe, just like that.

 “… cheese whiz,” Vlad grunted looking wide eyed at the Master, who looked just as surprised as Vlad himself. The moment passed quickly, and the Master was quick to grab Vlads arms, spinning him around. Vlad ended up with his back flush against the ghost’s chest, his wrists held tight in front of him by the Master, effectively pinning him in what looked like a possessive hug. The ghost breathed deep, smelling Vlad’s hair.

“You’re the human who lives here,” the ghost hummed. “Fascinating. You’ll do.”

_How did it come to this?_ Vlad thought desperately. One moment he’s fixing his portal, and the next he’s caught in the death grip of an uber-powered ghost from hell. He could feel his breath hot against his ear as he breathed him in and Vlad did all he could to repress a shudder. Vlad had always hated being touched, and to be in a vice grip by something that willed him harm was less than pleasant.

“Ok, I don’t like him, but you can’t go around overshadowing Vlad,” Danny was speaking. “It’s next to impossible to overshadow someone who’s half ghost anyway. Believe me, I’ve tried, I could only keep it up for a minute, and that was on a weak clone.”

_Good to know_ , Vlad mused, _if I ever get out of here, I’ll have to see if there’s a way to build up my resistance to being overshadowed_. At the moment though Vlad was focused on trying to reach his ghost half. But no matter how he reached for it, he couldn’t find it. It was simply gone. The familiar wellspring of power he’d had in his system for what seemed a lifetime was suddenly inaccessible and Vlad felt a nauseating fear creep into his heart. What could he do to get out of this? He was outclassed in every way.

“Boy, who said anything about overshadowing?”

Vlad stiffened at that statement. Conquer was such a vague term. Danny was right, anyone who called themselves Master already had an ego trip. Vlad’s name may have been Masters, but even he hadn’t considered forcing anyone to use that term. Vlad’s brain conjured an image of him licking the ghost’s pale blue feet. He’d sooner die.

“You said…,” Danny’s voice echoed his confusion plainly, the boy was always so easy to read, “you wanted to conquer a human?”

Vlad shifted slightly in the ghost’s grasp, and that’s when he felt it. His mind screeched to a halt, the image of a servant groveling at his master’s feet shattering into a million pieces. Surely that couldn’t be what he thought it was-

“Yes, and what part of that implies overshadowing?” The ghost asked nonchalantly.

It was. Vlad sharply inhaled in a gasp upon the realization. He had to get away.

Vlad pulled desperately at the ghost’s grasp, twisting his body, trying to move away from _it_ , away from the hard, hot _thing_ that was pressing into his ass concealed only by a thin black loincloth.

“I see someone gets it,” the Master laughed, and Vlad felt the ghost’s chest reverberate with it as much as he heard the sound itself.

“You can’t be serious,” Vlad’s voice came out an octave higher than intended and his panic was readily apparent. Damn.

“Plasmius?” Danny’s voice was wary, hesitant.  “What is it?”

Vlad licked his lips and opened and shut his mouth a few times. How on earth was he supposed to explain to the boy that this ghost wanted to fuck him? Wanted to rape him? Vlad was a villain to be sure, he was rather proud of it, but he had never once considered using his ghost powers or any other type of violent means to get sex, so it hadn’t occurred to him that there would be a ghost that did. But of course, there were as many types of ghosts as there were humans and this particular ghost was clearly a rapist. Vlad couldn’t recall even saying the word rape aloud let alone thinking he was at risk of being a victim.

“Yeah, Plasmius,” the ghost purred. “What do you think I want?”

Vlad attempted to stomp on the Master’s foot, but the blow was deftly dodged, and the Master’s grip only seemed to tighten. Vlad went boneless in a desperate attempt to get the ghost to loosen his grip, but the ghost didn’t fall under his weight either. He switched tactics and gave a few more kicks, and he could tell some were connecting with the Master’s shins, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything significant. Vlad couldn’t free his arms either. Vlad could feel a cold sweat bathe him as his panic mounted. There was nothing that could be done. This was going to happen to him regardless of what he did. Regardless of what Danny did. It was too late for Vlad, but for Danny-

“Daniel, run,” Vlad breathed, ceasing his struggle. It was pointless. It was better he conserve his strength, there may be another opportunity when- well. When it was happening.

“What?” Danny asked, shock evident on his young face. The Master chuckled.

“It’s your fault for taunting the blasted thing!” Vlad snarled, rage at the teen consuming him with sudden force. It was not in Vlad’s nature to sacrifice himself but taking Danny down with him would serve no point at all. He still hated the boy for putting him in this position. If only – if only – Vlad seethed, and forced his hateful thoughts to still. “There is no door to this lab. If he gets you, you’ll be stuck here too and there’s nothing you can do. I’ll be fine. For once in your life, listen to your betters. Run.”

The Master loosened his grip and gave Vlad a shove, and Vlad suddenly found himself colliding with the floor, his hands barely managing to prevent his nose from hitting the tile.

“You’re like him,” Vlad could hear the excitement in the Master’s voice. No. He was going to go after Danny instead.

The ghost was still talking, but Vlad didn’t hear. All he cared about in that instant was making sure there was only one victim in this madness. Vlad scrambled forward, hands and knees barely touching the ground as he grasped the muscular ghost’s ankles, causing the being to stumble and look back at him in annoyance.

 “Run!” Vlad roared.

And thankfully – finally – Danny listened. The boy jumped slightly as if in surprise, before bolting through the ceiling. A resounding crack followed, and a chunk of ceiling crashed to the floor where Danny had been moments before. Creating an exit for him, Vlad supposed, suddenly hating his decision to make his lab accessible by intangibility only. He could never reach without a boost. Vlad let go.

“I’m not sure if you’re very brave or very stupid,” The Master said contemplatively, turning to face Vlad.

“I surprise even myself sometimes,” Vlad said honestly, getting to his feet. Now that Danny was gone, he could fight off this aggressor in earnest, though he wasn’t sure what chance he had against a ghost whose muscles were of the fitness advertisement variety. Vlad was naturally broad shouldered, but he never took the time to work out, relying on his ghost powers should he need physical strength. Those were gone now, and it was obvious who would win in a contest of brute force.

The Master was smiling at him, seemingly unperturbed at the escape of a potential quarry.

“I’m going to conquer you.”

“So you’ve said,” Vlad replied, his eyes impulsively casting downward to where there was a noticeable tent in The Master’s loincloth.

“Like what you see? The Master simpered, and he grabbed the drawstring on the garment. Fiddling with it, not pulling it. Somehow that seemed like the most egregious threat Vlad had ever encountered in his life.

“Not particularly,” Vlad squeaked, hating his voice for its betrayal. It was hard to come across as detached and unaffected when his voice squeaked for crying out loud.

“Look,” Vlad placated. “There are plenty of humans in Amity Park better suited to your conquering whims. Like Jack! Jack Fenton, ghost hunter, makes all ghost’s lives miserable, he’d deserve something like this, what do you s-“

Vlad’s left wrist was grabbed by the ghost’s right hand, the grip punishing. The hand was cold, but not unbearably so, more like the temperature of flesh on a cold winter’s day, and it felt astoundingly normal, very human, and Vlad knew he was in trouble. Vlad was pulled forward, off balance, and turned around, hand twisted behind him, right hand grabbed to join his left.

There was a sound of fabric hitting the floor. Vlad’s eyes bulged.

“Now wait a minute, surely we can work this out!”

A cord was wrapped around his wrists. Vlad startled, unsure where it came from before he realized it was likely the drawstring from the loincloth. Shit.

Vlad twisted in the ghost’s grip but his assailant brushed off the movement embarrassingly easily.

Vlad was pulled back against the ghost’s chest again, but this time was different, because this time Vlad knew there was one less layer of cloth separating him from the ghost’s erection and the thought was unbearable.

“Please,” Vlad tried again, a tinge of desperation creeping into his tone. “I can get you anyone, buy you anything, I can overshadow the President of the United States and bring him to you on a silver platter, just please,”

“Begging isn’t endearing,” the ghost said, his hands snaking around Vlad’s chest to undo the buttons of his suit. “That teenage boy had more poise than you.”

“Anything,” Vlad tried anyway. “Anything you can imagine I can probably find it.”

“I came looking for a human to conquer, I found a human to conquer,” the ghost parted the suit with his hands and started working on the buttons of the shirt, untucking the shirttails from Vlad’s pants as he went. “You have nothing to offer except yourself.”

“I’ll fight you every step of the way,” Vlad tried again.

“That’s the spirit,” The ghost hummed happily, raking his frigid hands up Vlad’s exposed chest. Vlad shuddered. The shirt was still buttoned at the top and held in place with a bow tie, his suit-jacket unbuttoned but in place, and Vlad had certainly worn less, heck, his whole naked body had been aired on national television, yet somehow, he had never quite felt so vulnerable. So exposed.

“If I gave into you, pretended I liked it?” Vlad attempted instead, not too sure of what he was asking, but knowing he had to do something, and if fighting turned it on-

“Could you?” The ghost asked, and Vlad let out a startled cry as the hands gripped his belt and undid the buckle. He flailed, hands straining in the cord, body pulling forward, feet stomping. He connected with the Master’s foot this time. The ghost didn’t budge. Vlad realized he couldn’t fake it even if he tried, even if it guaranteed his freedom.

Vlad’s sex life was embarrassingly vanilla. He had only ever slept with women of opportunity, too concerned with his future with Maddie to give seriously pursuing a partner a try, and as a result he had only slept with 8 different women in the past twenty years. And only one of those women more than once. So that was what, 9 sexual encounters in his whole life? He didn’t even know if he was any good. Watching porn was out of the question, he hadn’t dared look up a video since an unfortunate incident with a bootleg tape at 15, so his masturbation material consisted of still images of women in suggestive poses. As a result, all he knew about the mechanics of anal and oral sex were what the movies and news anchors alluded to. Beyond knowing conceptually what they were, if he was asked to somehow actively participate in them, Vlad felt like he’d need some experience for how an enjoyable encounter went first. That wasn’t going to happen.

The ghost dragged the zipper of Vlad’s pants down slowly. Vlad knew logically he was being teased but that didn’t make it easier to bear. He simultaneously wanted to ask the ghost to get it over with already and ask him to drag it out for as long as possible. Because the longer this moment lasted, the longer it would be until he was raped.

A sob escaped Vlad unbidden.

“Shh,” the voice was filled with mockery. “I’ve got you.”

Maybe Danny called the police, Vlad thought desperately. The Guys in White. Valerie. The Fentons. Anyone. Even Jack seeing him like this was preferable to it proceeding further.

Vlad’s pants were beginning to slip downward, dragged by the weight of his belt. The ghost’s right hand moved to slide underneath the waistband of Vlad’s expensive boxers, brushing his hip, while his left hand continued to hold Vlad tight against the Master’s chest. The ghost’s erection continued to bump against Vlad’s clothed ass.

Vlad took a shuddering breath.

“This isn’t so bad is it?”

Vlad half laughed, half sobbed. The ghost was rubbing small circles into his hip, right below the waistband of his boxers.

“Don’t worry, I’ll break you in slow. We have all the time in the world.”

“If that’s the case, why don’t you come back in a hundred years?”

With the languid pace the Master had set, Vlad didn’t anticipate his next move, so he failed to capitalize on the opportunity when the Master’s left hand released him, and both hands were used to drag down Vlad’s pants and underwear in one swift motion.

As quickly as Vlad was capable of crying out in surprise, the ghost’s hands were wrapped around his chest again.

Now there was no cloth at all between the ghost’s arousal and Vlad’s bare butt cheeks and he felt it press against the crack of his ass, and he shook his head in horror and denial. It felt huge. He didn’t even want to guess at the size. He couldn’t even kick anymore with the fabric of his pants and underwear pooled at his ankles.

“Please, please don’t do this,” Vlad whimpered, knowing fully he would be ignored, but feeling compelled to try anyway.

“Kneel,” The voice was soft and non-threatening. Vlad could have laughed at the tone if the situation weren’t so dire.

“I-“

A foot was driven into the back of his calf, forcing him down on one knee, his pants forcing the second knee to the ground along-side it as his ankles were effectively bound together.

Vlad gasped at the pain of it, his ghost half not around to take any of the burden, his body horribly human.

“This will be easier for you if you listen to me. Bend forward.”

Vlad couldn’t cooperate. Or rather he wouldn’t. He would not be made to participate in his own rape, in any manner, no matter how small.

The Master seemed to expect this though, and he shifted his weight, crushing Vlad, pushing his body forward until his cheek hit the tile, hands tied behind his back, on his knees with his ass in the air.

The Master rucked up Vlad’s suit jacket and coat tails as far as Vlad’s bound hands would allow.

“Good boy,” The Master said pleasantly, as if Vlad had complied.

The ghost was looming over him, a hand between Vlad’s shoulder blades to keep him down, another on the floor to hold the ghost in his position, the erection, unbearably hot in contrast to the ghost’s cold skin, still persisting, still pressing into the cleft of Vlad’s ass, the ghost’s legs draped to either side of Vlad’s own.

This was it, Vlad thought to himself. Self-made billionaire, brought to ruin in his own lab, all his years of planning and scheming reduced to a puddle of flesh underneath a hulking entity that wasn’t even properly human.

And the ghost began to move, dick sliding along Vlad’s ass and the small of his back. Occasionally it would brush against his asshole and Vlad would tense, whimpering, thinking this was it, this was the moment, before it moved away.

And it continued. And continued. The ghost’s breaths were only moderately labored, and in contrast Vlad breathed rapidly and audibly, gasping, panicked, sobbing breaths. He wished the ghost would just put it in already, this torment of never knowing when he would finally be penetrated, finally be raped seemed somehow worse than the event itself, because he never knew when it would start, never knew when it would end, just please,

“Please,” Vlad wheezed.

“Please what?” The ghost asked, almost pleasantly, and Vlad couldn’t continue, because he couldn’t say something like, ‘please put it in already’ or ‘stop taunting me’ and asking the ghost to stop when such pleas were ignored made the whole ordeal worse, so Vlad clamped his jaw shut, muffling his cries as best he could.

Soon. The ghost would do it soon, and then it would be over, then it would begin, then it would be the beginning, then it would be the end, just please, please, please-

The Master let out a grunt and Vlad felt a splash of liquid creep up the small of his back.

Vlad let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a sob. Seriously? He – like that, he-

The ghost laughed, and Vlad gagged as the Master’s fingers brushed against his lips, and he tasted something bitter and salty, knowing instinctively what it was without having tasted it before, without being told.

“I told you I’d break you in slow,” The Master chuckled, and the weight on his back was getting lighter, not because the Master was standing up, but because he was somehow seeping in. Vlad had the peculiar sensation the ghost was melting into his flesh, but it didn’t burn, it just _was_ , and eventually Vlad realized he was in an empty room, hands suddenly free, clothes in disarray, semen dripping down the cleft of his ass, and he wondered once again how it had come to this.

***

_2:37 am, Saturday, April 14 th, Mayor’s Mansion_

It took Vlad far longer than he would have liked to get himself out of the lab. For all of his intense suffering he only had a bruised knee, aching wrists, and tacky skin to show for it. But at least now it was over, and he could recover.

Vlad shifted uncomfortably in his clothes, feeling that his shirt was damp. He needed out of these. He needed to shower. _Now_. And later – later he’d repair his lab. He’d had to disassemble quite a bit to build a ladder to get out. Because of course his ghost powers were still shorted out. It didn’t feel like they’d be coming back any time soon either.

Vlad all but ran into the master bath, wishing he could fly there, feeling the absence of his abilities starkly. He wanted to phase out of his clothes as he had for years, but he was forced to take them off by hand and he hated it, he _hated_ it.

Vlad preferred to shower in the evenings, not liking to get into his bed feeling dirty, and usually he spent some time examining his appearance, checking for wrinkles, grooming his beard, taking care of himself. He prided himself on his appearance. But he couldn’t even stand to look at himself.

Vlad removed the last vestige of clothing, cringing as he inadvertently saw the dried white substance glowing a subtle green that could only be ghost semen coating the back of his once white shirt. Vlad decided the whole suit would need to be burned, he had plenty of spares.

No, Vlad hadn’t planned to look at himself in the mirror, but the reflection he saw in the corner of his eye gave him immediate pause. As he looked, his initial confusion at his reflection turned to complete horror.

The tattoo he had seen on the ghost’s chest was on his own. He raised his fingers to his chest, fumbling to get the image in the mirror to show he had found the right spot. He felt nothing, and yet it was there, the bottom of the simple circle only visible if he pressed his chin into his chest to look down.

It wasn’t over, Vlad concluded, his brain clouding in a fog, white hot terror creeping down his spine. The ghost had said they had all the time in the world. He must have meant he’d be back. When?!

Vlad whipped around, expecting to see the ghost there, but there was nothing. Vlad choked on the air exiting his lungs, his breathing speed picked up and air exited and entered his body in squeaky gasps. His vision darkened around the edges and Vlad’s injured knee buckled and he was on the bathroom tiles, like the lab tiles, and the world was closing in on him and he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe-

Vlad clenched his fists almost hard enough to draw blood as his nails dug into the soft flesh of his palms.

_Breathe,_ he told himself. _You can’t be out cold if he returns,_ breathe _damnit_.

Slowly, the world righted itself.

_Panic attack,_ Vlad realized. It felt like an eternity since he’d last experienced one of those.

Vlad picked himself up on unsteady feet and entered the shower, turning on the water and letting it scald his skin.

Vlad scrubbed himself clean with a vigor unbefitting of a civilized gentleman, all but rubbing his skin raw, nearly crying in frustration that he had to keep switching hands to reach and scrub at every inch of his back where he felt the dried semen, where he felt it long after it had likely washed away.

He would have stayed in the shower forever, but the water turned cold.

_Why did Daniel have to visit?_ He wondered. Would that ghost have left the manor, preyed on someone else, if Danny hadn’t taunted him?

_Why did you forget to lock the portal?_ That was the crux of the matter. Did Vlad blame Danny or blame himself?

He knew the healthy thing to do would be to blame the ghost who sexually assaulted and all but raped him. And Vlad did. But he wanted to blame someone else. Because he could conceivably hurt someone else. If the Master was the only one at fault he was truly helpless, because the Master had proved he couldn’t be hurt.

Vlad toweled himself dry and put a wide toothed comb through his silver hair. His hair was thin and it dried quickly, so by the time he finished shaving and brushing his teeth it was only slightly damp.

Vlad hoofed his soiled clothes aside with his foot and walked wearily to his bedroom to change into night clothes. Once upon a time he had felt comfortable sleeping naked but as he ventured further into the ghost realm the possibility of unexpected visitors had only increased so he took to wearing long flannel pants and a matching button up shirt to bed, and occasionally even a nightcap. Never had he felt more in need of nightclothes as tonight.

The pjs were pink, the same color as his plasma, a color he would always associate with his power, no matter what children’s toy marketers tried to do with it.

Vlad slipped under the thousand thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, laying on his left side as was his habit, and he let out an audible breath of relief, finally clean, finally safe.

And that’s when a weight seeped out of him.

Vlad let out a panicked cry as suddenly a body was flush to his back, a crotch pressed into his ass once more, and worse, a leg hiked up to drape over his own.

“Don’t be getting too comfortable now,” the horribly familiar voice stated amiably.

“You’re not real,” Vlad shuddered. “Just a figment of my imagination. Yes.”

“Even you aren’t that stupid, pet,” The ghost chuffed, breath hot against Vlad’s neck. “I’ve given you my mark. That makes you mine. Mine and mine alone. I will pursue only you, seek out only you, conquer only you, own you in every respect, until the day you die.”

Vlad choked.

“Be grateful,” the ghost said, cinching an arm around Vlad’s waist, pulling him in tight, and even though his assailant was flaccid, Vlad felt threatened, he knew what he was capable of. “Only one human can bear my mark at a time. There is no one else for me but you. No one.”

Vlad shuddered, trying to figure out what he should do, what could he do? If he waited, maybe there would be an opportunity, maybe-

“By the way Vlad,” The Master whispered hotly against Vlad’s ear, “Ghosts don’t need to sleep.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_8:30 am, Saturday, April 14 th, Fenton Works_

_~Danny~_

*knock knock*

Danny woke with a start.

“Danny, wake up sweetie,” Maddie’s voice came from outside his door. “We have company.”

“Coming,” Danny called out, looking groggily at his clock. 8:30 am. Not terrible, but it was a Saturday…

Suddenly Danny jolted upright as he recalled the previous day’s events. Vlad.

Danny’s gut feeling was that either Vlad was the one downstairs, or he needed to make his way out of the house and formulate a rescue plan pronto.

Danny frantically threw on his clothes, feeling gross having neglected showering or brushing his teeth. He would make sure Vlad was alright, then do those things.

Danny all but flew down the stairs toward the kitchen and instantly relaxed.

Vlad was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea. Maddie had her lips pursed as she sipped her own, distinctly annoyed with the man, who had so recently injured Danny. Jack was more forgiving and was trying to engage him in conversation.

The billionaire had dark bags under his eyes and looked a little pale, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

“Uh… morning Vl- I mean, Mayor Masters,” Danny said, casting around for the cereal.

“No need to be so formal Daniel, Vlad is fine.”

Jazz glared at the man from over her book. If Vlad sensed the fact that three of the four occupants of the room were openly hostile toward him, he didn’t show it.

“Now that everyone’s here,” Vlad said with a slight clearing of his throat, “I have a request.”

“Oh, I know!” Jack blurted enthusiastically. “You’re running for President and need a running mate!”

“I – what? No -that’s not – no,“ Vlad said, looking baffled. “Ahem. A ghost made a direct threat to me. I figured that until the Guys in White can incapacitate it, it would be better if I stayed here.”

Danny accidentally spilled some of his milk on the table as he jumped.

“What?” He yelped.

“That’s right Daniel,” Vlad replied. “I couldn’t believe it myself. I’m not sure what a ghost describing himself as the Master has against me, but he promised to come back and make my life miserable. The mayor’s residence isn’t equipped to deflect ghosts, so I figured I’d stay here.”

That was total nonsense. Danny knew full well Vlad would have equipped at least part of the manor with a ghost shield. Although, given the Master’s ability to absorb ghost energy, the shield may be ineffective...

“Vlad, you can’t stay here,” Maddie said. “Not that I don’t like you, but you’ll drive us up-“

“What are you saying, Maddie? Of course he can stay here!” Jack cut off. “We have a spare room! It’ll be just like college, except Vlad won’t have to listen to my snoring! In the meantime, for personal protection, nothing beats the specter deflector!”

“That’s not a good idea!” Both Danny and Jazz said at the same time. Maddie gave her children a confused look.

“I mean,” Jazz fumbled, “It’s not a perfect solution and it needs to be charged. Plus, Vlad’s the mayor now, he can’t be seen wandering around in an oversized utility belt.”

“Don’t worry about fashion, children, I’ll be fine.”

Danny did another doubletake. He seemed to be doing a lot of those this morning. Because Vlad knew exactly what that belt was, and he couldn’t wear it without being zapped.

“I’ll be right back!” And off Jack ran.

Maddie sighed.

“Really Vlad, I don’t want you here.”

“Now Maddie, I appreciate we’ve had our … differences,” Vlad said. “But I’ve really got a problem and I need your help.”

“If you’re that worried about this ghost, can’t you hire a guard? You have ecto-weapons don’t you?” Maddie asked giving him an appraising look. “Or is there something else going on here?”

“Actually, I-“

“Found it!” Jack proudly announced. Vlad stood up, and Jack quickly cinched the deflector around Vlad’s waist from behind. Vlad flinched at the close proximity to his enemy but otherwise didn’t react at all. The device didn’t even spark.

Jazz and Danny looked at Vlad in disbelief. That could only mean one thing. His ghost powers were offline. Could that be why Vlad wanted to stay? Not just to protect himself from the Master, but from everything else? Vlad had made as many enemies as allies among ghosts, and if he was vulnerable…

Maddie and Jack, however, had no reason to believe anything was amiss.

“The key?” Vlad asked.

“Here ya go V-man,” Jack said, handing it over. Vlad placed it inside his pants pocket.

“Vlad,” Maddie intoned with mild annoyance. “What kind of threat did this ghost make, and why do you think staying here is the best option?”

“Honestly, I could use all the help I can get. You are a family of ghost hunters after all.”

Vlad gave Danny a pointed look.

“That ghost – the Master, the one who threatened me? He put a mark on me. And I’m not sure what it does.”

“What kind of mark?” Maddie asked, concern entering her tone for the first time. Danny looked intently at Vlad, trying to figure out if he knew more than he was letting on. But Vlad wasn’t looking at him. In fact, he wasn’t looking at anyone, and was staring vaguely into space.

“It may be easier, if I just show you?” Maddie nodded clinically. Even Jack was unusually subdued.

With some hesitation Vlad undid the 6 buttons on his suit jacket. Then his red bow tie. And finally, he unbuttoned half of his high collar shirt and pulled it open.

The awkwardness Danny felt at seeing the man undress in front of him was quickly replaced in alarm when he saw it. The tattoo. A single circle at the top of Vlad’s sternum, edging slightly into the hollow of his neck, a line going through it and around his neck with little black tattooed stitches. He recognized it instantly. It was the same tattoo he had seen on the Master.

“How did the ghost put it there?” Maddie asked as she and Jack rushed over to scrutinize it, and Vlad shrunk a bit at having them more or less ogle his skin.

“I’m not sure,” Vlad said hesitantly. “It just appeared after we…. Interacted.”

Danny got the distinct impression Vlad was hiding something.

Maddie poked the marking with a gloved finger. Vlad squirmed under her gaze and touch. Probably not how Vlad had fantasized about Maddie reacting to his exposed chest, Danny mused. Granted, there wasn’t anything the group hadn’t seen before, thanks to Danny’s own earlier pranking.

“Does it hurt?” Maddie asked.

“No.”

“Did it hurt when you got it?”

“No.”

“Does it otherwise glow or do anything ghostly?”

“No.”

“Did the ghost explain what it was for?”

“No.”

“Do you feel ill?”

“Just tired, but I didn’t sleep well. I don’t think it’s related.”

Danny tuned the conversation out as Vlad went on to describe the Master’s physical appearance and answered Maddie’s additional questions. He also went on to say that he’d tried to hit it with an ecto-gun, but the blast had been absorbed. Danny figured Vlad didn’t want to mention the involvement of ‘Danny Phantom’.

“Well, you should probably stay while we run some tests,” Maddie said reluctantly.

“And I can catch The Master!” Jack exclaimed.

“Weren’t you listening?” Vlad asked, exasperated. “Anti-ghost weapons don’t work. I only got away because he let me go. You’ll need conventional weapons too.”

“The Fenton RV is a conventional weapon!” Jack exclaimed. “It’s two tons of steel! It can flatten any ghost. Hah!”

Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I’m going to go shower,” Danny stated, excusing himself. The conversation was devolving and staying longer would do little good. “Then I’m going to go for a movie marathon at Sam’s.”

“Didn’t you do that yesterday? I wish you’d spend more time outside,” Maddie said, but she wasn’t really paying attention, as she had started photographing the tattoo on her cell phone.

“Yeah, well, you know,” Danny said sheepishly, inching his way up the stairs. He’d have to find an opportunity to talk to Vlad alone to figure out what was really going on. He also didn’t like the idea of the Master trying to break into Fenton Works. A ghost that was immune to ghost attacks was… scary to say the least. Danny guessed it may not hurt to ask some of the other ghosts if they had heard of him. But that could wait. He just wanted to take the day to be a normal teenager for once. He needed the movie marathon for the sake of his sanity.

***

“Let me get this straight,” Sam said, turning down the volume on the second Terminatra installment. Not that it wasn’t a good movie, but they’d all seen this one several times.

“You encountered a ghost that can neutralize ghost powers. It overpowered Vlad and now Vlad is sporting the ghost’s tattoo?”

“Yeah, that about covers it,” Danny absentmindedly grabbed another handful of popcorn.

“That’s sketchy, dude,” Tucker slurped his soda. “Do you think he overshadowed him?”

“The specter deflector didn’t hurt him or force a ghost out,” Danny explained. “I don’t see how he could be overshadowed.”

“It sounds like this ghost is something like we’ve never seen before. I hate to say it, but I’m concerned about Vlad,” Sam said.

“Me too,” Danny admitted. “He may be a seriously crazed up fruitloop, but if I sit by and let a ghost hurt someone, I can’t really call myself a hero, can I? Besides, he saved me, crazy as that is.”

“Danny, if he seriously wanted you dead, he would have wasted you already. He’s knocked you out cold several times now, and you’re still alive. He pushes pretty far, but always stops short of a finishing blow,” Sam reminded him.

“Don’t worry about Vlad, worry about yourself,” Tucker huffed. “What happens when that ghost gets bored and goes after Danny instead? And we can’t stop him!”

“We should investigate,” Sam said, turning off the home theater system. “We can’t be unprepared.”

“What? No, Sam, we never get to just hang out like this,” Danny protested.

“And your life isn’t normally in danger from a deranged ghost set on conquering people. Come on,” Sam encouraged, “this is fun too.”

***

The one good thing about the Amity Park Library is it didn’t skimp on ghost lore. Tourism was about the only thing funding the town’s massive repair costs and the library was quick to accommodate. Sam was paging through obscure texts while Danny and Tucker used the library computer, trying to see if anyone had heard of the Master before.

“I wish he had a more searchable name,” Danny said rubbing his eyes. “I’ve been paging through these ghost sighting forums by hand. No luck.”

“I’m not finding anything on ghosts with tattoos either,” Tucker grunted, glaring at the computer screen as though it had personally betrayed him.

“Maybe it’s not a ghost,” Sam said from her table, slamming the last book shut. “I can find all sorts of books describing ghosts that can phase through walls and shoot ecto energy. None about those who absorb it.”

Danny nodded.

“We’ll need to interview ghosts I think. Maybe one of them knows him. Besides, I think Vlad’s hiding something. He knows more than he’s saying. Unless he tells us what that is, we’re dead in the water.”

“Guess you and ‘uncle Vlad’ should spend some quality time together,” Sam suggested.

“Nothing for it dude,” Tucker said, jokingly patting Danny on the shoulder. “When you die, can I have your computer?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_6:00 pm, Saturday, April 14 th, Fenton Works_

_~Danny~_

Danny was home in time for dinner, but there was no dinner to be found. The kitchen was empty. Danny immediately went downstairs to the lab knowing his family would be there.

What he saw was a bizarre sight. Vlad was lying down on a lab table completely shirtless as Maddie looked at the tattoo under a magnifying glass. Jack was sitting at a lab table, also strangely studious, looking at what was likely blood under a microscope if the vials next to it were anything to go by.

“Erm,” Danny said to announce his presence. “What’s for dinner? And any luck?”

“Beyond seeming to be tattooed in some strange kind of ectoplasm rather than ink, this thing seems completely normal,” Maddie groaned. “Order some pizzas dear, this will take a while.”

“His blood is normal too, but there could be abnormalities at an atomic level,” Jack said, raising his head from the microscope. “We’d need better equipment to say for sure.”

“I don’t want to wait and see, especially if ghosts are involved,” Maddie frowned. “If we don’t play this right, Vlad could wind up dead.”

“I know that Maddie, but we’re doing what we can,” Jack placated. “It’s not fun. I want to go out and smash the answers out of the ghost that did this. But we might just have to wait and see what symptoms appear. If any do at all. For all we know, this ghost just likes tattooing people.”

“True,” Maddie conceded. Danny excused himself from the room, but the conversation continued. Jazz was waiting for him at the top of the stairs.

“Are they still at it?” She asked Danny.

“Still at it,” he agreed, grabbing the landline. Ordering out was so common place in the Fenton household, the pizza place was on speed dial.

Once he placed the standard order of one pepperoni and one sausage pizza, Jazz continued.

“Do you know more about this?”

Danny quickly brought her up to speed on the ghost’s ability to neutralize ghost powers and his immunity to the Fenton thermos, carefully listening for any indications of his parents heading up the stairs.

“This ghost is more dangerous than anything I’ve encountered before. Can you help us out?” He asked.

“Of course. I’ll try anyway. I don’t have as many contacts as you do though.”

***

Dinner was a subdued affair. Jack and Maddie were upset their research didn’t pan out. Vlad seemed to be too exhausted by their antics to speak, and Jazz and Danny didn’t want to disturb the fragile peace that had settled over the dinner table.

“We’re going to continue working in the lab,” Maddie announced as she finished her second and last slice. “Vlad? Why don’t you stay up here? It’ll keep your mind off things.”

“Don’t worry about me Maddie, I’ll be fine.”

Just like that, Danny and Jazz were alone with Vlad.

“Vlad, what happened after I left?” Danny asked as soon as he was sure his parents were gone.

Vlad sighed. “Nothing worth mentioning.”

“Look Vlad,” Jazz tried. “We want to help you, and you clearly want our help, but we can’t do that if you don’t tell us the full story. What does this ghost want from you?”

“To conquer me, apparently,” Vlad muttered, sounding frustrated. “Seriously, I don’t know more than Daniel does on what that means.”

“The ghost says you figured it out,” Danny accused.

“No, the ghost said I ‘got it’. Do try to pay attention. I may have figured out what he planned at that particular moment, but I still don’t know his overarching goal.”

“What did he have planned that particular moment?” Danny snapped. It was like pulling teeth.

“More or less what I thought.”

Vlad’s lips quirked upward but there was no humor in his smile. Danny waited for elaboration but it seemed none was forthcoming.

“Seriously Vlad? Are you not telling me because you want to frustrate me, because you physically can’t, like because the tattoo prevents it or something, or because you won’t? At least tell me that much.”

“I wonder,” Vlad said mock thoughtfully.

“Forget it, I can’t do this with you,” Danny snarled.

“Danny,” Jazz said, grabbing his shoulder before he could march away. She looked at Vlad, eyes pooled with concern.

“Don’t look at me like that Jasmine,” Vlad said in a softer tone. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Have you lied to my parents about any of the questions they asked you?”

“Not technically.”

Jazz gave him a look. Vlad snorted.

“You look just like Maddie when you do that you know.”

“Vlad-“

“Alright, alright,” Vlad conceded, raising his hands in mock surrender. “I believe The Master is somehow residing in this tattoo, but I can’t prove it. After our initial encounter, which Daniel witnessed, the ghost… melted away. My guess would be that he melted into this tattoo. Also, I haven’t been able to access my ghost powers at all since the fight. It’s like they’ve vanished completely.”

“You’re saying you brought that ghost into this house?” Danny asked, his voice tinged with panic.

“Don’t worry Daniel,” Vlad said snidely. “I’ve been marked as his target. He’s made it abundantly clear that he only has an interest in tormenting me.”

“Yeah, unless he decides to torment you through other people,” Danny said exasperated.

“Wait a minute Vlad,” Jazz interrupted. “Did the ghost explain his purpose?”

“No.”

“But you just said you’d been marked as his target and he made it clear he was only interested in tormenting you.”

“You will make a wonderful psychologist someday Jasmine,” Vlad muttered. “The ghost said something like ‘I’ve marked you now and you are mine’ and also ‘no one else alive has this mark’ or something to that effect. I admit I just interpreted that meant he would only focus on me and no one else.”

“Now are we done? I feel like a filthy lab rat with all the poking and prodding your parents have been doing. I need a shower.”

With that, Vlad stalked off.

“That was… interesting,” Jazz mused, staring at Vlad’s retreating back.

“He’s deliberately avoiding what happened after I left,” Danny growled. “Normally I wouldn’t think anything was suspicious if he wasn’t being so obvious about avoiding the topic.”

“I assume because he doesn’t want to think about it,” Jazz answered. “I don’t think I’d be wrong if I said that ghost tortured him.”

“Tortured?” Danny asked. “Jazz, there’s not a mark on him.”

“You haven’t seen his whole body, and besides, there’s more than one way to torture someone,” Jazz slipped into book mode. “Chinese water torture just involves dripping water on someone’s head in a dark room and victims go mad within hours.”

“That’s gruesome Jazz.”

“Just stating the facts,” she replied, “Did the ghost say anything to him to imply he would be tortured?”

“The ghost didn’t really say anything,” Danny explained. “I just told the ghost he couldn’t overshadow Vlad, the ghost said he wanted to conquer Vlad, not overshadow him, and suddenly Vlad started freaking out.”

“Maybe it was the word conquer?”

“I thought of that Jazz, and all I could think was that The Master would turn Vlad into some kind of slave. It makes sense with the name. And who knows what kind of tactics he’d have to use to get Vlad to listen.”

“I wonder,” Jazz mused, eyes unfocused as she thought, staring at the space Vlad had vacated.

Danny let out a breath, realizing Jazz was becoming consumed by her thoughts.

“Not much we can do at this stage,” he said, “if Vlad won’t talk and The Master won’t show up. I have a paper to write.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_7:15 pm, Saturday, April 14 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad was worried he’d said too much to Danny and Jazz. Or rather, too little. If he had just said the ghost punched him around a bit or something, or maybe that he’d been forced to lick its feet like he had first imagined, they wouldn’t be looking at him with such suspicion. He doubted Danny would come to the right conclusion on his own, but Jazz was a wild card. She had the life experience of a child but the determination to think like an adult, and that was a dangerous combination.

Vlad had only brought the one suitcase with three suits and one set of pajamas. Hopefully it would be enough, but after spending the day being poked and prodded with no tangible results, Vlad was losing hope. Though he couldn’t feel the Master’s presence, he really did suspect the ghost was with him somehow, watching it all unfold.

Once Vlad had gathered his toiletries, he entered the bathroom and locked the door.

It was barely evening, but Vlad needed to get away from the other occupants of the house. He felt filthy after lying there on the impersonal lab table, exposed for scrutiny. So many times he had considered finding a way to tell Maddie, and only Maddie what he had gone through, incase it helped them put a stop to the ghost that was haunting him. But he always stopped himself because while she may look at him with anger now, he couldn’t bear her to look at him with pity. People only pitied things that were beneath them.

Vlad took off his jacket, bowtie and shirt, seething with annoyance at the whole situation he found himself in. He faced the mirror this time, glaring at the tattoo that had been giving him so much trouble. An electronic screech emitted, and Vlad blinked in shock as the specter deflector died. It should have held a charge for two more days, and yet, it was suddenly dead.

Vlad’s eyes snapped back up to the tattoo, and as he watched it, the line in the center of the circle snapped as if cut, and the stitch markings faded from the bottom up as if being pulled up and out, the line slid out of the center of the circle, and then the whole thing vanished as an oppressive presence materialized behind Vlad, and he held his breath to prevent a shout because the Fentons were all here, they were right outside the door.

“I figured you deserved to have your theory confirmed,” the ghost whispered, black eyes reflected in the mirror, black hair contrasting with its terribly pale skin. “Not that it will help you. I am over a thousand years old and I have infected an uncountable number of humans in this manner. No one has ever come close to dislodging me. But I must confess, it amuses me to see you try.”

Vlad breathed shallowly not daring to speak, not daring to turn around, seeing the Master’s bare shoulders peeking out somewhat above his own in the mirror. The ghost – or was it a man – and suddenly Vlad had a hard time thinking of the creature as anything but a human male - wrapped his arms around Vlad’s unclothed stomach and buried his nose in his neck and breathed. It was a horribly intimate sight and Vlad took his eyes away from the mirror promptly.

“Let me go, please,” Vlad whispered at him. “I – I need to shower, come back later, not now, please,”

“Your fault for picking a location with so many people. If I didn’t know better I’d say you wanted witnesses.”

Vlad stiffened. Surely the man wouldn’t invite an audience… surely?

Vlad grimaced as his assailant kissed his shoulder before closing his mouth over it and sucking lightly.

“Stop,” Vlad tried again, and to his surprise, he relented, grinning wolfishly at him in the mirror.

“Aren’t we beautiful together?” The man asked. Vlad’s expression said it all, and the Master chuckled.

“Go on, take your shower.” The Master stepped back away from Vlad, and Vlad turned to look at him, at the muscles rippling beneath the pallid hairy chest. He was human in all but face, the black and silver loincloth blessedly in place, and no erection in sight this time. But still – he was there.

Vlad looked at him pointedly. “Erm…”

“Don’t let me stop you,” The Master murmured pleasantly. Vlad realized with immediate clarity he had no intention to leave. Worse, he was standing in the way of the door.

Vlad weighed his options. If he had access to his powers, he would have phased through the floor. But they seemed to have abandoned him entirely, and Vlad wasn’t even certain if they’d ever return. He stopped that thought before it took root, it didn’t bear thinking about. Another option would be to shout for help. Vlad was reasonably certain someone would hear him, but then what? Would they be able to help? Would Vlad be killed for alerting people to the man’s presence? Would they be killed for coming to his aid? Or would they be asked to watch, or worse, join in his humiliation?

Given these uncertain options there was only one thing Vlad could conceivably do. He began to strip.

He wanted to turn his back on the man to conserve his modesty, but then his anus would be pointed in his direction and that struck Vlad as being a Very Bad Idea. And so, he removed his shoes, socks, useless specter deflector, pants and underwear all with his body skewed ever so slightly to the side so he could keep an eye on his assaulter.

“Beautiful,” the man purred, and Vlad felt his blush creep down his neck. Peanut butter on a cracker, this was crazy.

Vlad edged into the shower all the while making sure never to turn his back on his assailant, which seemed to amuse the man greatly.

Vlad turned on the shower, and only then realized his shampoo, body wash and loofah were still sitting on the bathroom sink where he had placed them while looking in the mirror. Worse, the Master smirked, picking them up and walking toward him with a determined gait. Vlad resisted the urge to cower at his approach.

“Nnn-“ Vlad started to say, but it was too late, the man had pulled the string tying his loincloth and the whole thing came undone in an instant, string coming loose from the loops and dropping separately to the floor, and for the first time, Vlad saw the man’s penis, thicker and larger than his own, and it had to be at least six inches even in its flaccid state, and it wouldn’t concern him, it wouldn’t, but Vlad knew these incidents were likely to escalate in severity so it would concern him very much, soon, it was just a question of how soon.

“Like what you see?” The Master asked.

Vlad shook his head. The Master stepped into the shower with him, closing the curtain behind him.

Vlad backed up and pressed himself into the porcelain wall, facing the man, the spray missing him entirely.

“It’s kind of difficult for me to wash your hair if you’re all the way over there.”

The Master didn’t approach. He waited. That made it worse because it made Vlad decide what to do. Vlad wondered what may happen if he tried to exit the shower again. He looked longingly at the shower curtain.

“I won’t stop you,” The Master said. “But the next time you enter the shower, I will be here. Waiting. And the next and the next. Until you let me take care of you. You’ll only be delaying the inevitable.”

Vlad believed him. And faced with the constant dread, what was the point of resisting? He had to get clean at some point.

It took all of his willpower to take a step forward. And even more willpower than that to turn his back on the man and place his head under the spray, facing the shower head, wetting his hair. He wouldn’t have been able to do it at all if the man had been hard. But he wasn’t, so somehow it was doable, even if his heart felt like it was pounding out of his chest.

Vlad made an involuntary mewling noise as hands were placed on his hips, pulling him backward out of the water. He’d miscalculated. He was going to fuck him, and Vlad couldn’t stop him, he-

Vlad relaxed as the hands were removed, and a few seconds later they were placed in his hair. He was gentle, but thorough about working in the shampoo.

“I can’t wash it while you’re under the water.”

His amusement was palpable. _Then you should have told me to move, not touched me_ , Vlad thought. But he knew that had been half the point.

“Rinse it out,” the man commanded.

And Vlad did, stepping forward once more. This time he brought his own hands to his hair, glad for this small bit of autonomy. But all too soon hands were at his hips again, removing him from the water. Vlad at least managed to avoid making a sound this time.

“You know, there’s a loofah for this,” Vlad squeaked as The Master’s hands, coated in body wash, were placed on his shoulders.

“What’s a loofah?”

Vlad wasn’t certain if he was genuinely naïve or deliberately being obtuse, but his bet was on the latter. Vlad bit his lip as the hands massaged his shoulders. He could do this.

The Master ran his hands down Vlad’s shoulders, down to his forearms, and caressed his hands, working the soap between the fingers.

“What do you hope to accomplish by doing this?” Vlad asked, not expecting an answer.

“I’m acclimating you to my touch. Is it working?”

“Define working,” Vlad ground out as the Master worked soap under his arms.

The master didn’t speak further, coating his hands with more soap.

Finally, what Vlad had both been expecting and dreading occurred and the Master placed his hands on Vlad’s chest, at the same time pulling him back and flush against his own body. Vlad stiffened automatically but fought to otherwise not react.

The only good thing was that his tormentor was still mercifully flaccid. This time though, Vlad didn’t have a shirt separating him from The Master’s bare chest, and he could feel the man’s chest hair distinct and scratchy against his back, his dry skin contrasting with Vlad’s.

The Master worked diligently, working his fingers in small circles over every area of Vlad’s chest, paying special attention to his nipples. Vlad blinked hard as he endured it, determined not to make a sound, determined not to protest, determined not to say a word.

The Master moved his hands in small circles, massaging soap into Vlad’s pectorals before inching slowly down. Down, and down. Vlad felt as the hands moved down his abdomen, breath hitching in an involuntary laugh as they reached his navel, for he was a bit ticklish. Down, and further down the hands traveled with a clear inevitable destination…

Vlad opened his mouth to say something when suddenly The Master changed direction and worked his way down Vlad’s right leg. The move had been deliberate and Vlad found himself questioning it, as it seemed every decision the Master made would have immense ramifications on Vlad’s future. The shower was a least big enough to allow this sort of washing, and Vlad could sense the presence behind him backing away and kneeling down to wash at his legs. Vlad considered kicking, but the wet shower floor made that seem more dangerous than anything else.

The Master worked his way back up Vlad’s left leg, and once again got to the spot which he had deliberately avoided last time. Vlad expected the man to move to his back but let out a sharp exhale when he did not, when he cupped Vlad’s balls in his soapy hands.

Vlad opened his mouth to say something, but what exactly? The most intimate and fragile part of his body was in the hands of someone who wished him harm, and while he wanted him to stop, Vlad worried if he said something, it would make it worse. Vlad audibly gnashed his teeth as the Master ghosted his hands over the area, working the soap into the pubic hair surrounding Vlad’s cock before giving it a single stroke.

But that was all. The hands moved away to Vlad’s back, and Vlad visibly relaxed. The Master chuckled.

“Soon, you’ll be used to my touch. I will conquer you. Just wait.”

“I don’t think that word means what you think it means,” Vlad responded despondently.

“To overcome and take control of something,” The Master dutifully said. “Some men conquer battlefields, I conquer men. Occasionally women. Mostly men though.”

The Master had reached the small of his back and placed a hand at the cleft of his ass. Vlad froze, suddenly remembering once again why he didn’t want to turn his back on the man. Vlad wasn’t used to thinking of his asshole as an intimate area, but there’d never been anyone looking to penetrate it before either.

“Easy,” The Master said in a soothing tone, and Vlad was too terrified to tell if there was an air of mockery to it or not.

The soap sudded hand pressed against the small of his back, then was dragged down between his cheeks, two fingers in the crease, palm flat against his cheeks. As it reached his asshole, a finger pressed lightly at it, and Vlad took in a deep breath as if to scream, and a hand clamped around his mouth.

“Shhh,” whispered softly into his ear. Definitely mocking. Definitely.

The finger pressed gently, increasing and decreasing pressure, enough to agitate but never enough to actually breach. The hand moved downward to Vlad’s taint, then back up to press lightly at his asshole again. It was like being in the mayor mansion’s lab all over again.

Vlad made his first audible sound in a while and was embarrassed at the strangled sob that left his lips.

“Please, no,” he pleaded.

“Shhh”

“Please.”

“Hush.”

The final word was harsh, and Vlad stood, knees knocking, chest heaving as the finger rubbed around the outside of his hole, teasing, teasing – then it moved away to rest at the small of his back.

“It’s been fun. We should do it again sometime.”

And the heavy oppressive presence seemed to surround him then seep into him. The Master was gone. Looking down, chin against his chest, Vlad saw the tattoo, back once more.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**.

_7:49 pm, Saturday, April 14 th, Fenton Works_

_~Jazz~_

It wasn’t every day the Mayor walked into your living room in pink pinstriped pajamas, Jazz thought to herself, but Vlad Masters was doing just that. He ignored Jazz’s presence and plopped down at the couch across the room by the end table where a game of chess was sitting, and began setting up the pieces, hair loosely falling around his face, freed from its ponytail.

“Are you going to play that by yourself?” she asked him.

“That was the idea,” Vlad said, not looking up from the pieces.

“Mind if I join you?”

“You look busy.”

“Mom is almost always too busy to play. I don’t mind. Unless you do?”

“Of course not,” his tone was brusque. “Black or white?”

“Black,” Jazz replied.

“You don’t mind reacting to your opponent, then?”

“And you like to always make the first move.”

They lapsed into silence as the board was set up.

“Do you use the timer?” Vlad asked.

“I prefer not to, otherwise I end up getting too competitive.”

“A little competition never hurt anybody,” Vlad replied, but he moved leaving the timer untouched.

The first game was over in five minutes. Vlad won.

“Again?” Jazz asked. He nodded.

And so it continued. There was no conversation, though Vlad did occasionally comment on the games Jazz was copying, or the names of her strategies.

Jazz won the 20th match, one of only 5 wins she had achieved. They had been going for a little over two hours.

“Not bad Jasmine, you could do well if you ever engaged in this game professionally.”

“That would take all the fun out of it,” she replied.

“I do hope I’m not keeping you from your studies.”

“I finished my projects ages ago.”

They were silent again. Vlad began setting up the board for another round.

“You know,” Jazz said, “Until I was told how you were treating dad, I liked you. I thought you were a little weird, yes, but I admired your business acumen at least.”

Vlad’s hand stilled for a moment before continuing to place the pieces.

“I believe anybody can change. Which means anybody can change back. You could be the friend you were to them in college. We’d forgive you.”

“They stopped visiting me at the hospital. They abandoned me,” Vlad replied, moving a pawn. “I’m not so quick to forgive.”

“By that logic mom abandoned you too, and you’re still chasing her.”

“Your father turned on the machine while I stood in front of it, and it was constructed using his calculations. Your move.”

“Neither of them visited you in the hospital after a while. They both forgot about you.” Jazz also moved a pawn.

“We are not having this conversation,” Vlad moved another piece.

“You should think about it. All the resentment is preventing you from forming meaningful relationships.”

“I did not ask to be psychoanalyzed.”

“Force of habit,” Jazz replied. “My parents mean well, but they forget a lot of things. I had to grow up quick to make sure Danny was better cared for than I was. But talking frankly about our problems and communicating has really helped. Now they’re more bumbling and forgetful rather than obsessed and neglectful.”

“That’s a large burden to put upon yourself.”

“You make the assumption it’s a burden. I wouldn’t have recognized neglect for what it was had I not studied it, and they weren’t doing it out of malice. I’m sure I would have been happy if things had continued as they were when I was twelve, but therapy has certainly helped, and we’re happier for it. Check.”

Vlad looked at the board in confusion.

“How clumsy of me. It’s mate on the next turn no matter what I do. Well played again.”

“You know,” Jazz continued, her resolve settling, “If you truly believe mom would be happy to marry you if dad died, you are fundamentally failing to understand who she is as a human being. Take care that you actually love my mom, not the version of her you have in your head.”

Vlad glared. “How dare you-“

“You get angry whenever someone doesn’t behave exactly the way you want. It’s controlling and abusive.” Damn, it was hard to stop once she got started. But there was a point to this. “Are you trying to _conquer_ my mom?”

Vlad flinched at the word.

“Certainly not,” he snarled.

“And how would you define conquer?”

“To overcome or take control of something,” Vlad replied immediately.

“And you’re _not_ trying to control my mom? Are you sure? Because I can’t help but think that if you had married her, you would have smothered every little thing she did that demonstrated thought independent of you.”

“Why are we talking about this?” Vlad asked, striking forth with a pawn, signaling the beginning of a new game.

“Because I’d love to play chess with you without worrying that you were using me to get to my mom or waste my dad,” Jazz replied, promptly moving her own piece. “No one likes to be conquered.”

“Of course not.”

“We are not an obstacle for you to overcome, or a collector’s item to obtain.”

“Hmm.”

“Humans are not machines. You cannot mold us into your perfect family.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“Oh?” Jazz asked. She could practically feel the anger radiating off of him as he aggressively moved across the game board. She paused poignantly.

“I imagine this ghost thinks the same way.”

Vlad placed his rook so hard against the board it clattered and several pieces toppled over from the force.

“What is it trying to mold you into?” Jazz pressed.

Vlad glared.

“Check,” he growled.

Jazz carefully moved the pieces back to where they were before moving her queen to take Vlad’s rook.

“Check and mate.”

Vlad’s face crumpled, and he stared at the board in disbelief.

“I’m happy to help you Vlad, for the friend you could be,” Jazz rose, grabbing her book as she got to her feet. “But ultimately it’s up to you to decide if our family is your friend. No one can control your mind except you.”

Satisfied that she had given him enough to think about, Jazz left for her room before she pushed him too far. If she hadn’t already. This whole situation made her uneasy, and if Danny hadn’t seen the ghost with his own eyes, she would have said Vlad was here as part of a nefarious plot.

However, Jazz could see how genuinely upset Vlad seemed. That worried her. She had told Danny Vlad had likely been tortured, but that wasn’t exactly what she believed. It seemed more likely to her, based on his behavior and reluctance to speak, it had been more humiliating than that. Combined with the word conquer, which shared its root with conquest, Jazz believed the ghost may view Vlad as a sexual conquest of sorts. It would explain his embarrassment and unease, especially if the tattoo really was the ghost. That would imply his ‘conqueror’ could appear at any time, to do anything. The only thing that prevented Jazz from voicing this theory aloud was that it would be mortifying if she was wrong, and even if she was right, the thought that Vlad was living in terror of his next attack while everyone in the Fenton household went about their daily business was absolutely horrifying. It was too painful to even consider.

She hoped that with that conversation Vlad would be more likely to open up, if not to her, then to her parents. At the same time, she prayed she had failed, for if her suspicions were confirmed, it went far beyond what she, as an aspiring psychologist, was currently capable of handling.

Only as Jazz drifted off to sleep did she realize Vlad hadn’t been wearing the specter deflector.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_9:55 pm, Saturday, April 14 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad stared at the chessboard, thoughts swirling. Checkmate indeed. In more ways than one.

Jazz had confused him. Vlad had always been self-assured in his anger and resentment of Jack, his love of Maddie and now he actually found himself hesitating.

He wasn’t trying to _conquer_ Maddie. He loved her, just for who she was. Didn’t he?

Vlad stood abruptly, not bothering to clean up the board. He couldn’t deal with these doubts, not now, not when he had this – this _mess_ to deal with. It was likely only because of the crap he’d been dealing with since last night that he was even having doubts in the first place. The whole ordeal had unbalanced him.

Jack and Maddie were in the lab. Danny and Jazz were presumably in their rooms. The guest bedroom was upstairs, across from Danny’s room, next to Jack and Maddie’s room, and above the kitchen. Jazz was diagonally across from his room with the bathroom at the end of the hall.

As Vlad approached his designated bedroom his apprehension grew. He remembered what happened the last time he had dared to lay down, and though the man hadn’t done anything more than drape himself over him in a sick parody of a lover’s embrace, it had made sleep next to impossible, and Vlad had always been quite good at falling asleep despite any number of interfering factors. Vlad doubted he had slept more than an hour the previous night.

The bedroom looked innocent enough, but of course it did when the threat was within his own body. Vlad locked the bedroom door despite a niggling voice in the back of his head saying that would make it difficult for someone to rescue him. Because Vlad Masters didn’t need rescuing. This was getting ridiculous. Stronger or not, Vlad wasn’t going to let the man have his way with him again. Who knew having your bodily autonomy violated could cause such intense panic and despair. Vlad hadn’t really stopped to consider such things before.

Vlad turned off the light and crawled under the scratchy, low-quality cotton sheets with a huff. And he waited. And waited.

Nothing was happening. Vlad relaxed, tension finally easing from his muscles. Thank goodness, he would be allowed to sleep.

And then a body was wrapped around him and his relief turned to despair.

“Sorry, sorry,” the man chuckled. “But it’s far more fun to appear when you don’t expect it.”

“Fuck you,” Vlad cursed, a luxury he had denied himself for years. His mother wasn’t here so he would say what he wanted, and this man certainly warranted more than a ‘cheese log’.

“Oooh, touchy. Did Miss Jasmine touch a nerve? I think she’s right about you, you know. You and I are a lot alike.”

Vlad jabbed his elbow backward and was rewarded with a grunt, but the man simply grabbed Vlad’s arms tighter, snaking an arm under and around his body for good measure, forcing Vlad to cease movement with his superior weight and muscle mass.

“Finally decided to get angry, huh? Don’t worry, I like a challenge.”

Vlad seethed and writhed. The bed creaked in protest, shoddy spring mattress that it was. But try as he might he couldn’t get the man to budge.

Vlad went boneless. This clearly wasn’t going to work.

“Over already?” The man asked, raising its hand to brush through Vlad’s hair. Instead of shying away, Vlad turned toward the hand and bit it. Hard.

He was rewarded with a strangled yelp, and the arm around him released. Finally. Vlad, scrambled from the bed haphazardly, landing ungracefully on all fours, stumbling to get his bearings as he hurtled toward the door. If he could just get to the Fenton lab-

Vlad collapsed as an immense weight barreled into him from behind. _No_.

“Get off of me,” Vlad wanted to yell, but he was cognizant of the nearby teens, so the words came out as a hiss. He didn’t think the Master would assault them as it did him, but he was sure he didn’t have any moral compunctions about doling out punches. Vlad was sure the Master was strong enough to deliver a fatal blow.

Instead of complying with his command, the Master roughly flipped Vlad over and straddled him. The loincloth had rucked up and Vlad knew that only the fabric of his pinstripe shirt separated him from the other’s genitalia. Vlad’s boundaries had been pushed so many times though, it felt like just another violation to add to the list.

“I know I said I like a challenge, but there is one thing I just won’t tolerate,” the man snarled. “You can push me, pull me, kick me, spit on me, run from me, try to exorcize me, tell your friends about me, whatever you like.” The man’s inhuman black eyes glowed in the darkness of the room, his features illuminated only by the light from under the door.

“But I will not tolerate biting or scratching if those things are done with intent to harm. While we’re at it, I won’t tolerate you carrying around weapons either. Though I can easily take them from you as I materialize, I dislike it as a general rule. I don’t give a damn what your friends do though. And yes, that blasted anti ghost belt counts as a weapon, as the intent was to use it to harm me, even though it did not work.”

The man shoved his hand in Vlad’s face, and Vlad could just make out puncture wounds from where his teeth had broken skin, oozing black sludge, but even as he watched they slowly knitted themselves shut, until only the black liquid indicated he had done any damage at all.

“It’s pointless anyway,” the Master said, casually wiping his hand clean on the fabric above Vlad’s heart. “Now… an eye for an eye. What should I do to you?”

“I didn’t know the rules. Punishing me isn’t fair,” Vlad tried, aware of his helplessness.

“I want the lesson to stick.”

And then the Master grabbed Vlad’s left arm, just below the shoulder, and pulled with a twist.

There was an audible pop, and Vlad’s piercing scream was cut off the instant hands clamped over his throat, cutting off his oxygen supply. His shoulder had been dislocated.

Tears at the pain of it leaked from Vlad’s eyes, and the hands were removed shortly after they were placed. It seemed the intent had been to silence him, not strangle him. The relief from being able to breathe was immediate, but the pain in his shoulder was extraordinary. It hurt, it hurt so much, Vlad had never realized how much his ghost form truly shielded him from, but this-

Vlad bit his lip to control himself and listened for the sounds of a door opening or footsteps. Nothing. Perhaps the Fenton children used headphones. Vlad didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed. But what could teenagers do that he himself could not?

“Now, I’m a forgiving man,” the Master simpered. “I’ll pop your shoulder back into place, as long as you say the words, ‘Master, I’m sorry for biting you.’ Just those words, as sincerely as you like, and I’ll fix it. Otherwise, you’ll have to go to the Fentons to fix it. Tomorrow morning at the soonest.”

Vlad scowled through his tears, hating the man, hating the situation, hating himself for stopping the Master when he went after Danny the night prior, hating himself for being so weak, hating Jack for causing the accident that ruined his life all those years ago as the catalyst for it all. He did not want to say those words. But if left as it was he was sure his shoulder would swell to the point that it was no longer an easy fix. The lesser of two evils was clear. He had said _any_ tone.

“Master,” Vlad bit out, making the word drip with scorn, “I’m _sorry_ for biting you.”

It was the most insincere apology Vlad had ever given, but the man seemed content enough that he had spoken the words.

“As promised,” he muttered, and with that, hands were on him, and pain shot through his shoulder once again; Vlad arched his back with the effort of containing his scream, but it was over, and the pain mostly disappeared with it leaving only a dull, deep throbbing in the joint.

“Now,” the Master stood up. “I’d suggest you get back into bed. You need your sleep. Or you can flee. But I intend to lay at your side every night, every time you sleep, wherever you sleep. And that is regardless of if anyone else is in the room by the way. Every once in a while, it’s nice to have an audience.”

Vlad’s stomach flopped.

He really, really, didn’t want to climb into bed again. He wanted to fight. But he couldn’t afford another dislocated limb. Or worse. So there was no choice, really, only the illusion of it.

Vlad climbed back into bed, this time on his right side instead of his left, feeling as though he was on the wrong side of the bed. He didn’t bother getting under the sheets as that was just another layer of entrapment at this point. His stomach churned in disgust as the man clambered in after him.

“Warm enough like this?” the man asked in mock concern. Vlad nodded tersely.

An arm snaked around Vlad’s abdomen, pulling him flush against the Master. Vlad was painfully aware of the outline of his body, and like the previous night, the man wasn’t aroused but that didn’t make the close proximity easier.

Unlike last night though the man wasn’t finished with him.

The hand left his waist, and it was placed at his mouth, the pointer and middle finger of the man’s left hand placed over his lips as if to silence him, though Vlad hadn’t made a noise.

“Suck them,” the Master commanded.

“Wh-“ but before Vlad’s _why_ could be completed, the Master slipped the digits into Vlad’s mouth.

Vlad was unfamiliar with any kind of foreplay that involved sucking fingers - perhaps it was a hand fetish thing. Then again… there was natural lubrication involved when engaging in traditional sex practices, but maybe for anal sex it was necessary to… Vlad suddenly found himself wishing he had made more time in his life to have a physical relationship. He was so out of his depth. And the bimbos he had slept with certainly weren’t going to give him meaningful feedback. They had wanted the perks of being a billionaire’s girlfriend after all.

Remembering the warning about biting, Vlad hesitantly allowed the intrusion.

There wasn’t a particular flavor to them, they were just fingers, and overall it wasn’t wholly unpleasant to do, just distinctly awkward and uncomfortable. The Master pushed the fingers farther back and pulled them out a bit, before repeating the process, rubbing against Vlad’s tongue, and Vlad recognized the symbolism in the movement but chose to do his best to ignore it.

The man had two hands though and while the fingers of the assailant’s left hand symbolically violated Vlad’s mouth, the right hand grabbed at the waistband of Vlad’s pajamas and underwear.

The angle had to be awkward, but he still managed to pull the garments down to Vlad’s mid-thigh, and Vlad made a displeased noise low in his throat at this development. The Master wasted no time in digging his right arm underneath Vlad’s waist to wrap around him, securing him, the arm distinctly uncomfortable between him and the mattress.

The Master removed his fingers from Vlad’s mouth with an obscene pop, and the same hand was placed at Vlad’s backside, and unlike in the shower, the spit-soaked index finger wasted no time in finding Vlad’s hole.

Vlad froze, and he knew suddenly with horrible clarity that he was actually going to be penetrated this time, and he hated that a part of him was relieved it was about to happen, because it meant the man wouldn’t be able to taunt him as easily with the threat of crossing this particular line.

“Relax,” the man whispered. It was the only warning Vlad got.

“Mmph,” Vlad grunted, arching his back in an instinctual effort to get away. Instead of flitting around the edges the Master was pushing his finger into Vlad’s resisting anus agonizingly slowly.

It burned. All the saliva in the world couldn’t make this comfortable, and Vlad squirmed, but that made the intrusion even more noticeable so he stilled, breathing shallowly, panic skirting around the edges of his consciousness. The violation of being breached against his will was palpable, his helplessness almost physically painful.

Vlad felt the intrusion dig deep, and he knew the finger was buried to the hilt.

“Feel that?” His assaulter breathed and his voice was husky. Damn.

“How can I not?” Vlad bit out scathingly. His assailant pulled the digit out slightly and pushed back in with force, and Vlad bit back a cry. It _burned_ , damnit! His ass instinctively clenched around the intrusion trying to push it out. His assaulter thrust the single digit in and out languidly, twisting and wiggling it, and Vlad breathed harshly as it stuck to his insides, seeming to push and pull them along with it. It burned, but it was tolerable compared to a dislocated shoulder, and yet somehow it was infinitely worse.

Suddenly something was stimulated within him that had Vlad gasping, arching away in panic, because it had felt unpleasantly _good_. What _was_ that?

The man chuckled softly at Vlad’s obvious distress.

“I want you to remember how this feels,” the Master whispered. “Because before we reach next Saturday, I’m going to fuck you. With my dick up your ass, incase it wasn’t clear.”

Vlad clenched down instinctively at the thought, but the digit continued to thrust against his increased resistance, only creating greater pain.

“Now-“ the Master suddenly removed the finger and Vlad let out a strangled groan at the speed of the movement, but it wasn’t over as the Master began to shift their positions. He pulled Vlad toward him, at the same time moving out of the way until Vlad was lying flat on his back. The Master was quick to straddle Vlad once more, higher up than he had on the floor earlier, resting just above his abdomen. The man was clearly holding himself up, since Vlad could breathe, but the presence above him felt oppressive. This time, The Master didn’t stop there, but he proceeded to remove the loincloth as Vlad watched, revealing what Vlad knew he’d find underneath.

Vlad had never before thought of a penis as threatening but at this particular moment, if he had a choice, he would have preferred to see a loaded gun sitting on his chest rather than an erect dick. It was indeed bigger when aroused. It had already been of decent girth flaccid, heck, flaccid it was around the size Vlad was when erect. But now it was easily seven inches, maybe bigger. And it was inches from his face. Vlad hysterically thought he should find a way to measure it.

The Master grabbed Vlad’s left wrist and he winced as his injured shoulder was disturbed, and Vlad watched with growing alarm as the man calmly wrapped Vlad’s fingers around his exposed arousal.

Vlad didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t going to stroke it, that was for sure, even touching it felt filthy and violating. He wasn’t going to jerk his rapist off. Certainly not.

“Feel that?” The Master asked, and Vlad was immediately aware of the girth. With his hand around it he could tell it was thicker than his own, and though his hand hadn’t been brought all the way to the base of the cock, it still extended a good ways beyond his hand, foreskin rolled back and leaking eerily glowing precum. Vlad felt bile rise in the back of his throat.

“Now, feel this,” the man grabbed Vlad’s right hand, and encouraged it to close around his slightly damp left index finger, the one that had been reaming Vlad earlier.

Vlad suddenly grasped why the man was doing this. It was a clear threat. Because Vlad’s right fist easily encapsulated the finger, and the digit itself vanished within the confines of his grip. The difference between what he held in each hand was palpable.

“You can let go,” The man said, amused, and Vlad quickly removed his hands as though burned.

 “Now I have no qualms about fucking you with my dick the same way I fucked you with my finger,” the ghost said conversationally, and Vlad winced at the language, “But I want to give you an opportunity. If you buy something to use as lubrication, I promise to use it.”

“…why?” Vlad asked, confused.

“Because it feels better when it goes in smooth,” the Master chortled. “Besides, getting you to participate without the threat of immediate violence is… arousing.”

The Master grabbed his length, and Vlad looked away.

“Ah,” the Master warned, grabbing Vlad’s chin with his left hand, forcing his gaze back to his arousal.

“Watch. See how you make me feel.”

Vlad watched, though he deliberately unfocused his eyes. It helped a little, but he could still see the man jacking off on top of him. Could see the way the man’s sweat caused his black hair to gleam, see the precum with its greenish glow dripping down the shaft and onto the Master’s hands, something the darkness would have obscured had his assailant only been fully human.

The Master let out little grunts of pleasure as he worked that set Vlad’s teeth on edge, but at least this didn’t hurt. Vlad clenched the sheets tightly in his fists to prevent himself from shoving at the Master, he couldn’t afford to make the ghost decide to do something worse.

It wasn’t long before the inevitable happened. The man reached orgasm and Vlad’s face was sprayed with his essence. Vlad cringed, feeling the wetness in his beard, on his lips, in his hair-

Vlad dry heaved. And just the act of opening his mouth caused him to taste it. Again. It was just as foul as he remembered.

“Really now, you’re overreacting,” the man said, but he didn’t sound angry, just amused as he removed himself from Vlad’s chest, and Vlad quickly rolled to his side, away from him.

Vlad wanted to clean his face off on the sheets, but knew he’d have no way of washing them. Suddenly he remembered his shirt was already soiled with ghost blood, so he hiked it up until he could use the hem of it to wipe at his face. His movements were a little frantic. He could smell it, the stuff was probably in his nose. God. Thankfully the assailant allowed Vlad to do as he pleased.

As soon as Vlad felt he’d removed the worst of it, he promptly pulled up his pants and underwear which were still resting at mid-thigh.

“Better?” The Master asked. Vlad ignored him, keeping his back turned, settling down to hopefully sleep.

_Let it be over_ , he thought to himself. _Please_.

The Master settled around Vlad once more and Vlad allowed it, too drained to protest. The Master’s right hand came to rest at the pillow above Vlad’s head, and his left slowly snaked down Vlad’s chest, slowly, slowly-

Vlad let out a slight whine as it came to rest, cupping his manhood through his pants.

“Something the matter?”

Vlad bit back his retort. “No,” he responded flatly. At least it was just resting there. It could be worse. It could always be worse.

Vlad thought sleep would be impossible. However, the emotional drain of the last 24 hours – and really, was that all it had been? Less even – caught up to him and he fell into an uneasy sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_8:00 am, Sunday, April 15 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie woke to the sound of her alarm clock, which she promptly silenced. 8 am on a Sunday. Perfect.

Sun seeped through the blinds, and she instinctively cuddled closer to Jack’s large frame, sighing in contentment. He had slept through the alarm like usual and was softly snoring. It was these simpler moments that made her happy to be alive.

“Jack honey,” she said, shaking him slightly. “Time to get up.”

“What? Ghost?” Jack woke babbling reflexively.

“No, we have to continue figuring out what’s wrong with Vlad.”

“Right, I almost forgot!” and he was awake in an instant, darting out of bed toward the bathroom. One had to be quick if they wanted first dibs in the Fenton household. Maddie wasn’t really looking forward to continuing their work, given their lack of progress the day prior, but if anyone could solve it, Jack could. Though he was bumbling to be sure, he had astounding moments of insight that only a chaotic mind could discern. Several of their inventions would never have existed without his help – though most of the ones he worked on by himself were worthless at best and dangerous at worst. Still, when together, they were unstoppable.

“Oh, uh, did you want the shower first?” Jack asked, ducking his head back into the bedroom. Maddie grinned. He had been making an effort lately to slow down and consider her. It was adorable. She wondered how long the phase would last.

“There’s plenty of room for both of us,” she said. It only took him a moment to cotton on.

“Nothing better to get you going on a Sunday morning,” Jack hollered.

“Quiet now, don’t wake the kids!” grinning impishly, Maddie followed.

***

Maddie hummed as she made pancakes, molding them into ghost shapes. She’d had to clean the shower after her and Jack’s activities, so she was running a bit behind, but it had been worth it. She wouldn’t have to wake up Danny and Jazz she was sure, the smell of pancakes was better than any alarm. There was plenty for everyone, and research was best done on a full stomach.

Sure enough, her kids started ambling downstairs, wiping sleep from their eyes.

“Pancakes?” Danny asked, though the answer was obvious.

“I call the bathroom first,” Jazz yawned.

“Could you knock on Vlad’s door first and see if he wants pancakes?” Maddie asked her. She figured it’d be rude to deliberately leave him out.

“Sure,” Jazz answered.

Maddie placed her latest batch on Danny’s plate before pouring more batter onto the frying pan.

“Thanks mom,” Danny said, digging in.

“He’s not there,” Jazz said from the base of the steps.

Maddie paused. Vlad was of course free to come and go as he pleased but given that he thought a ghost was after him it hardly seemed wise.

“Were there signs of a struggle?”

“No,” Jazz answered. “But it looks like he wasn’t wearing the specter deflector. It’s on the floor.”

“That man,” Maddie scowled. More stubborn than her husband, that was for sure. Being safe was more important than a fashion statement. And it _was_ fashionable, even if Jazz disagreed! If he was going to ask for help, damn it all, he would accept it.

“Is Vladdie in trouble?” Jack asked, sensing Maddie’s anger.

“He will be when he gets back,” Maddie scowled, flipping the pancakes.

Jazz disappeared back up the steps.

***

Maddie settled into her favorite chair at the kitchen table, munching on her own portion of pancakes. Jazz and Jack sat with her, Danny had disappeared into the bathroom after practically inhaling his portion.

The front door opened without a knock.

“Where were you?” Maddie asked, without looking up.

“I was, um…. Out? Buying some headache medication at the local pharmacy.”

Maddie looked up. Vlad was clutching a plastic bag from the pharmacy tightly at his side.

“Without the specter deflector?”

Vlad swallowed. Good. He saw how foolish he’d been.

“I, um…. I’ll just put this away.” He quickly disappeared up the stairs.

Maddie shook her head. Jazz swallowed the last of her pancakes and nursed her coffee.

“I wonder if a headache is a symptom of that ghost tattoo,” she wondered aloud. This gave Maddie pause. It would have to be taken under consideration.

Vlad entered the kitchen, carrying two pills in his hand. He approached the table but withered under Maddie’s glare.

“Care to explain what convinced you it was a good idea to remove the specter deflector?”

“It suddenly powered off.”

Maddie’s frown intensified, though this time it wasn’t directed at Vlad. “Really? It should have kept charged for two more days at least. Or…did it lose power like your ecto-gun did when you attacked the ghost yesterday?”

“Exactly like that,” Vlad replied.

“Mmm,” Maddie mused. “We’ll have to see how other ghost weaponry reacts around you. Pancakes?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Vlad said, settling at the table and piling his plate high. He swallowed his pills dry.

“Hold up, there’s coffee,” Maddie said. The man would choke if he wasn’t careful.

“I prefer tea,” Vlad responded, and he began to cut his pancakes as they were, syrup free.

Maddie scrutinized him carefully. He looked about the same as yesterday, a little pale, with bags under his eyes. She wasn’t sure if his peaky condition was due to some kind of ghost curse, or from whatever duress he was under at the thought of a potential stalker.

“Any change in condition?” Maddie asked. Vlad determinedly finished chewing.

“No.”

“What about the headache?”

“Mrrm,” Vlad answered through a mouthful of pancake.

“I’ll take it as a ‘nothing besides that’ then. I’d like to examine that tattoo again. It may be altered, and I’d like to rerun some tests.”

“No need,” Vlad waved her off, swallowing his food. “I think it would be time better spent to try to track down more information on this ghost. Someone in the ghost zone must have heard of him.”

“We don’t negotiate with spooks!” Jack roared enthusiastically.

“Then what’s that specter speeder for?” Vlad demanded.

“Mom, dad, may I be excused?”

“What? Oh, of course Jazz,” Maddie said absently. That girl was so formal sometimes. Maddie wasn’t sure where she got it from. Neither hers nor Jack’s side of the family were anything close to demure or subtle.

“Vlad, I must insist,” Maddie put her foot down. “You came here for our help, so let us help you.”

“About that,” Vlad said, hesitating when he saw Maddie’s glare. “I’m really not sure there’s much you can do. I think just being surrounded by elite ghost hunters is enough to deter it. At least a little. Probably.”

“You can’t stay here if you won’t let us help.”

“I’ll have to go to City Hall tomorrow to work anyway,” Vlad replied. “I just want to stay today, and maybe I could swing by tomorrow after work-“

Maddie’s fist hit the table causing the plates to jump and coffee to leap from the mugs onto the table.

“That’s staying Vlad. Now either you let us help you, or you leave.”

“Now Maddie, give Vladdie a break,” Jack said in his boisterous manner.

“No Jack, we cannot have the MAYOR freeloading. Either this is serious business or it isn’t. Well?”

She sized Vlad up, giving him her best stink eye.

Vlad ducked his head slightly. It occurred to Maddie that nervousness didn’t really suit Vlad. Though he had been walking on egg shells around her lately given the tension over his accidental shooting of Danny when he was showing off around that Wisconsin ghost, it occurred to her that he seemed to fear more than just her ire. Maybe the potential of a ghost stalker really was getting to him.

“Alright,” he relented, not looking happy with his decision. “But only because I believe you may be one of the few people actually capable of helping me.”

“I’m flattered,” Maddie said flatly. Vlad was a sleazeball who cared only for himself. His blatant flirting with her back in the Rockies had proved that. But recent escapades aside, he did save Danny when Danny was found just outside the barrier during the invasion of the ghost king, so he wasn’t all bad. Though she supposed he may have only risked his life to gain her favor.

“To the lab!” Jack exclaimed racing down the stairs like it was a competition. Some days, even Maddie struggled to keep up with his enthusiasm.

“Are you finished?” Maddie asked Vlad.

“Might as well get it over with,” Vlad answered, standing up to toss his excess pancakes in the bin. He even washed off the plate in the sink. Maddie gathered the remaining dishes, and rinsed them as well, following Vlad’s good example. She probably would have forgotten them sitting out, she was just as distractible as Jack sometimes.

Maddie walked toward the lab, Vlad tailing her like some kind of shy puppy and she pinched the bridge of her nose. It was going to be a long day.

“Shirt off and lie on the table,” she commanded. “I’ll look at the tattoo. Jack will reexamine your blood for abnormalities.” Maddie shuffled her notes to give the man time to comply. Not so much to preserve Vlad’s modesty – Maddie wasn’t shy, and she was a professional – but she didn’t want him to misconstrue her clinical gaze as ogling.

After waiting what she deemed a reasonable amount of time, Maddie turned around. Vlad was sitting on the table, not lying down, but close enough.

“Tell me if anything hurts.”

He nodded, and Maddie palpated the tattoo, moving her fingers around its border and pressing lightly. Ideally Jack would have done this, but he tended not to know his own strength. Things were progressing normally until she reached the portion above his left collar bone when his body jerked slightly.

“Vlad?” Maddie asked.

“Old injury acting up,” He explained. “That’s what the medicine was for. My head feels fine.”

Maddie accepted his explanation and continued, following the tattooed stitches behind his neck. All normal. She held up her measuring tape, and photographed it, comparing them to the photos on her cell from yesterday. The dimensions remained unchanged.

“We should probably try some aggressive methods of removal. Have you seen the ghost since yesterday?”

“No, I just feel like I’m being watched.”

“Oh?” Maddie inquired. “How so?”

“Every time I’m alone, I think I see him out of the corner of my eye. But when I turn to look, he’s gone.”

“It’s probably trying to drive you crazy,” Jack offered, bringing over the supplies for a blood draw.

_Or he really is paranoid_ , Maddie thought to herself. But the tattoo was palpable evidence that something was going on. It was made of some type of ectoplasm for goodness sake.

Vlad allowed Maddie to draw his blood without complaint, and Jack took it away to be analyzed. They’d be able to see any anomalies at a molecular level. Too bad they lacked the proper equipment to observe atoms…

“I’m going to get a skin scraping too,” she explained, before taking a scalpel to the center of the tattoo where the ink was thickest.

“Do what you have to,” Vlad answered, and Maddie was somewhat impressed that he allowed her to do the scraping without complaint. He’d always been a bit of a baby when it came to pain tolerance in college.

Maddie passed the sample off to Jack as well, before casting around the lab for something useful. Of course, there were just as many broken things in her lab as working, but she quickly spotted something suitable. The Fenton Ghost Catcher. Jack’s invention.

She checked the settings, and made sure they were on separate, and thrust her hand through the glowing green field as a base test. Nothing happened, but that was to be expected. It didn’t hurt either.

“What’s that?” Vlad asked.

“More extreme methods,” Maddie answered. “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.”

Maddie picked up the device, shifted her grip, and lowered it over Vlad’s head. As it passed over him, she thought she saw a shadow of pointy black hair emerge from his head, so it was having some kind of effect, but nothing could have prepared her for what happened when the Fenton Ghost Catcher passed over Vlad’s shoulders. It shorted out. The glowing green net simply vanished.

“Huh,” Maddie said, removing the device from Vlad. Was the device’s failure a direct result of the tattoo, or – and it was working again.

“Fascinating,” Maddie breathed. “That ectoplasm must be the equivalent of antimatter. It literally absorbs all ecto energy. I could probably shoot you with an ecto gun, and nothing would happen.”

“Your aim would probably have to be precise,” Vlad told her. “I want to get free of this tattoo, but I’d rather not get killed in the process.”

“It’s worth a try.”

“I won’t let you shoot me, Maddie”.

_Pity_ , Maddie thought. It would have been a good excuse to air some of her grievances with Vlad. She was tired of keeping the peace for Jack’s sake.

“It may be best to invent a laser to remove it, like they have in tattoo parlors. We’ll have to see if we can find a way to destroy the particles in that skin sample.”

“How long will that take?”

“Hit or miss,” Maddie shrugged. “Ten minutes or ten years, we’ll just have to keep trying until something sticks.”

“We don’t have ten years,” Vlad growled.

“It could take ten minutes.”

“Surely there are other avenues of investigation you haven’t tried. Like exploring the ghost zone for example.”

“The ghost zone is dangerous,” Maddie insisted. Sensing Vlad was about to protest, she changed lines of questioning.

“What happened when the specter deflector shorted out?”

“What’s the specter speeder for if not to keep you safe in the ghost zone? How can you call yourselves ghost hunters if you won’t take the hunt to their dimension?”

“We learned the hard way what happens when a human is exposed to the ghost zone’s radiation, we need more tests to figure out if our equipment is sufficient. I don’t want to cope with a third round of ecto-acne, do you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, _someone_ didn’t seem to be particularly bothered by it the first time,” Vlad said, glaring over Maddie’s shoulder at where Jack was humming at his work bench.

“That’s not true and you know it. And you haven’t answered my question,” Maddie tried again, determined to get Vlad out of this line of thinking. The man just didn’t fully appreciate the risks of the ghost realm.

“What question?”

Maddie mentally cursed. If Vlad hadn’t seemed so earnest about the ghost tattoo, she’d swear he was being deliberately dense.

“What happened when the specter deflector shorted out?”

“I thought I saw the ghost over my shoulder in the bathroom mirror,” Vlad responded. “When I turned to look he was gone, and the Specter Deflector powered down at the same moment.”

Maddie’s concern intensified.

“How did the tattoo look in that moment?”

“It was covered at the time, Maddie.”

Maddie scowled. Of all the luck.

“I’d say you were possessed, but we’ve dealt with possessed citizens before, and they never had a physical sign such as this.”

“They might have,” Jack piped up from his corner. “We haven’t exactly been undressing anyone. Blood’s normal by the way.”

Jack turned his attention to the skin scraping and began preparing different slides. Maddie was assured of her husband’s diligence. He was the one with a masters in Biological Engineering after all.

“If Vlad was possessed, the Fenton Ghost Catcher should have forced the ghost out of him,” Maddie insisted.

“But you said something about antimatter,” Jack replied, placing the first slide under his microscope. “This might work differently from other possessions.”

“What was it like when you were possessed in Wisconsin?” Maddie asked Jack.

“I wasn’t really aware of what I was doing. I woke up a bit when I sensed that I was doing and saying things I would never normally do or say, and I could fight it for a bit, but it won too easily. I can’t remember exactly what I did, or what I said. It was like I ceased to exist.”

“It’s a total takeover, then,” Maddie summarized, “With almost nothing of the host left. You can probably catch a ghost at it if you ask it something only its human host knows.”

“Probably,” Jack agreed.

“Vlad,” Maddie said brusquely. “When did we first meet?”

“College orientation, Wisconsin State University,” Vlad replied promptly. “We both stopped to visit the table for the Arcane Student Org. I told you I thought they were a bunch of nutjobs, trying to impress you, but you told me you thought it was groovy. I said there was nothing wrong with being a nutjob, and maybe I was one myself. I didn’t know anything about the arcane at the time, but I decided it would be worth a study, if a woman such as yourself was interested.”

Maddie smiled genuinely. Good old ASO. She had met Jack there the first meeting of the semester. Hearing that encounter form Vlad’s perspective was strange though. She had thought Vlad had been hiding his embarrassment at his hobby by calling those who studied the arcane nutjobs, but the way he told it made it clear he had only joined to impress her. Just how many of his actions had she misinterpreted over the years? To think, Jack had missed orientation and had only known about the club meeting because of his roommate Vlad. That meant the only reason she had even met her future husband was because Vlad had been trying to connect with her. Life was strange sometimes.

“So not possessed then,” Maddie said, extracting herself from her thoughts. “Maybe …. The ghost isn’t possessing you, but is possessing the tattoo? Maybe it’s some kind of work around. That way you can keep your independent thought.”

“Maybe,” Vlad nodded. “It may be best to assume everything I see, hear, and say is being monitored by the Master.”

Maddie glared at the tattoo. The thought that it might actually contain a vile ghost and it was in her lab – it was unconscionable. They had to get rid of it. Now.

“Are you sure you won’t let me shoot you?”

“Absolutely not,” Vlad scoffed. Maddie sighed. This was going to take a while.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_10:13 am, Sunday, April 15 th, Ghost Zone_

_~Danny~_

Danny was grateful he had managed to get into his parents’ lab before they started doing more of their experiments. It was one thing to slip into the portal while Jack was distracted but trying to get through when both Fentons were in the lab was another ordeal entirely.

“Um, excuse me, do you know anything about a ghost called the Master? Has this tattoo?” Danny held up the sketch his mother had made. The young ghost girl shrugged at him, before floating on her way. Great. 100 down, an infinity to go.

A part of Danny wished Vlad hadn’t stopped that ghost from attacking him. Maybe then he could just let Vlad rot. He hadn’t forgotten what Vlad had done to Tucker and Sam. The billionaire was a rotten self-serving bastard. His recent self-sacrifice had to be a fluke. But Sam was right when she said yesterday that if Vlad had really wanted to, he could have wasted Danny ages ago. Or Jack. If he could pack ecto-acne in a gas canister, he could easily toss another poison Danny’s way. One that was instantly lethal. Danny was willing to concede that Vlad may not have been fully committed to wasting him, but that didn’t mean Vlad was any less dangerous. And still. Still.

Still Danny couldn’t stop himself from helping. Being a super hero kinda sucked. Though, Danny supposed, he may just be doing this to try to get Vlad out of his house. Watching Vlad make googly eyes at his mother every time her back was turned got old quick. Besides which, there was the Master to consider. There was no doubt the ghost was terrifying. Any ghost that could completely short out Vlad’s ghost powers was a threat that couldn’t be allowed to roam free. Though how a ghost that couldn’t be sucked into the Fenton Thermos could be contained was questionable.

“This is ridiculous,” Danny muttered aloud. If ghosts he met in passing were no good, it was time to seek out a target. And who better to hunt a ghost than the self-proclaimed ghost zone’s greatest hunter?

***

“What are you doing here, whelp?” Skulker snarled, setting down a cage filled with ecto snakes, and raising an arm.

Danny deftly dodged the net that flew from Skulker’s wrist.

“Skulker, hang on, I don’t want to fight you!”

Another net whizzed past, followed by an ecto blast. No good.

Danny grit his teeth. A fight it was. He would end it quickly.

Danny fired his own shots, dodging and keeping his distance.

“Hold – still!” Skulker shouted. There was a click. Skulker looked at his wrist in confusion. A misfire. _Score._

Danny quickly surged forward and gave Skulker a punch to the jaw at 112 miles per hour. Metal crunched and Skulker flew off into space with a scream.

Danny sped up to surpass the flying body and quickly shot it back down toward the ground where it carved an impressive crater in Skulker’s island.

Danny landed beside Skulker’s head, pulling the disconnected robotic head free, and grabbing the two green little feet sticking out of it.

“Seems you’re having some performance issues Skulker,” Danny mocked the tiny, struggling ectoplasmic ball. “Don’t worry, it happens to everyone.”

“I am the Skulker!” He squeaked. “Respect me!”

Danny grabbed his tiny hands and righted him. There. Perhaps this was a more _respectful_ pose.

“I need information,” Danny said. The blob stopped struggling.

“Information has a price, whelp.” Danny suppressed a chuckle. Skulker’s words weren’t nearly so threatening when spoken at that pitch.

“Name your price,” Danny humored him.

“Not until I hear the question. I don’t want to sell myself short.”

“Fair enough,” Danny said, though he personally felt a power play by a baseball size blob wasn’t something he needed to take too seriously. Granted, Skulker would fix his armor eventually, he was sure.

“I’m looking for information on a ghost that calls himself the Master.” Danny dug into his suit and pulled out the folded drawing of the tattoo. “Has this tattoo. Heard of him?”

“That’s the image of One Touch Kill,” Skulker said. Danny’s eyes lit up.

“So you _have_ heard of him!”

“You should stay away from that ghost, ghost child. He will destroy you and I will have nothing to hunt.”

“Yeah, I know he’s powerful, I need to know how to defeat him.”

“If I knew how to defeat him, his pelt would be on my wall,” Skulker snapped. “A ghost that kills everything it touches. A touch by that creature will destroy your spectral energy. Some ghosts manage to reform themselves centuries later. Most don’t. I used to actually look like that robot body you know.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Danny said. “You’re telling me you used to have that body? For real? Like, not made out of metal?”

“Of course,” Skulker huffed. “I’m sure I’ll get it back someday, if I keep gathering energy. I got off lucky. I was foolish to try to take him. Now unhand me this instant.”

“Wait,” Danny said. “We’re not finished here. How did you encounter the Master?”

“One Touch Kill,” Skulker insisted. “I don’t care what he calls himself, that’s what the ghost zone calls him. And I tried to hunt him, that’s how. The thing absorbed every attack I threw at him. I became like this because I tossed out an ectonet, and I was still holding onto it when the net touched him.”

“Has anybody _succeeded_ in injuring him?”

“Humans,” Skulker said darkly. “One Touch Kill has lived in the human world for thousands of years. He only ended up back here again because of a human. I can’t remember all the details. I read it in a book.”

“What book, Skulker?”

“I dunno,”

Danny glared.

“Look, I don’t remember, Ok?”

“Well do you remember where you read it? Or who had it?”

“Seriously, I don’t know, someone traded it to me years ago, and I read it, and traded it away. But if you’re looking for a book, you really should see the Ghost Writer. Now let me go.”

“Not going to insist on payment?” Danny taunted.

“It sounds like you’re going after One Touch Kill. You won’t be alive long enough to pay me anything.”

Danny dropped Skulker and he fell on top of his metal suit with a dull metallic clank.

“Thanks. Guess I’ll be paying the Ghost Writer a visit.”

“Good luck with that,” The green blob said, crawling back into the helmet of his iron suit. “Ghost Writer is still in prison for violating the truce.”

“I thought you all escaped!” Danny exclaimed.

“Apparently, Ghost Writer didn’t want a longer sentence for escaping prison. And you still have a warrant, don’t you forget.”

Skulker had succeeded in reattaching his head, and he stood, flexing the ghost exoskeleton, testing it was in working order.

“How much longer is his sentence?”

“Violators of the Christmas truce are held until the following Christmas. Not too bad, considering Walker’s typical fare. Ghost Writer doesn’t mind other ghosts reading his books. Just don’t remove them from the library, or you’ll be cursed.”

“Cursed? Seriously?” Danny asked skeptically.

“All ghosts have their strengths. Did the Ghost Writer not trap you in his fiction? That’s a curse. He can’t use ecto energy, but he can spout curses. Now leave me be. I have repairs to make.”

Skulker picked up his cage of snakes. “Til next time, ghost child.”

***

Danny faceplanted on the library desk. If he had to go through another book, he would scream.

“What is it ghosts have against having an appendix?” he asked the empty library in exasperation.

From the outside, the library had looked modestly sized, but as soon as Danny had gotten past the crushed keyboard, he saw the library was a dimension upon itself, bookshelves branching out for what may have been all eternity.

Danny had been lucky enough to find a section that seemed to be filled with nothing but books on monster hunting, and he figured that they were the sort of books Skulker would read, but after paging through ten books labeled things like “Exotic and Dangerous, Monsters Unleashed” and “A Collector’s Almanac, Your Guide to Ghosts with Rare Powers” and “Bounty – Dangerous Ghosts that Kill” Danny still hadn’t seen any reference to One Touch Kill or The Master.

Danny morphed back to human form, shuddering at the slight tingling on his skin from being surrounded by the ghost world. He needed to see his watch.

11:02 pm.

Danny changed back, considering his next move. Ideally, he would take a stack with him and review further at home, but he remembered what Skulker said about curses. It would be foolish to risk it. He’d have to come back later. Then he could bring all his friends to help, Jazz too. They’d need jumpsuits to protect them. And the Specter Speeder. His parents would notice it missing, they were going to freak.

Tomorrow.

As Danny flew back toward home, he wondered where the Master was now, if he really was incorporated in Vlad’s tattoo, and if Vlad had seen him since. The fact that Vlad wasn’t dead meant One Touch Kill didn’t one-touch-kill humans, but maybe Vlad’s ghost powers were gone for good. Maybe Danny was at risk of the same fate if he encountered him. It was something he’d have to be careful of.

_He came here to conquer a human, huh?_ Danny mused. Danny wasn’t sure what the ghost had meant, but maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing for Vlad to be taken down a peg or two. The thought of Vlad being forced to utter the phrase ‘yes, Master’ brought a small smile to Danny’s face. However, Danny didn’t think that’s what conquering meant, at least not to this ghost. Based on Skulker’s story, the Master couldn’t touch another ghost, so he likely felt out of place in the ghost zone. If he could touch humans, he may want a human life, to live among them. The Master had said he had come to conquer a single human – taking over a human life to use as his own made sense. Perhaps the Master was setting up a more permanent form of overshadowing on Vlad. Maybe he would eat away at Vlad’s mind and take over slowly, more every day. If the ghost was taking over Vlad’s mind, that would explain Vlad’s seeming inability to explain the ghost’s goals, even though he had seemed to figure it out that first day. Anything seemed possible at this point.

It occurred to Danny that Vlad may well be a ticking time bomb. Vlad may not be willing to murder Jack under Maddie’s nose – but if The Master overshadowed Vlad, all bets were off.

Danny groaned. He would have to interrogate Vlad at some point. He’d get the truth out of him, one way or another.

***

The Fenton house was quiet. The lab was empty. A quick sweep of the living room showed the Fentons weren’t anxiously waiting up for the return of their son. Danny was sure Jazz must have covered for him, and he felt a surge of affection for his meddling sister.

Yawning, he floated up the stairs, mindful not to disturb the household.

Danny paused outside his room as he heard a strange noise. A whimper.

He froze. What was that?

Danny craned his neck and listened. Silence. His ghost sense hadn’t gone off.

_I’m going crazy,_ Danny mentally groaned. He phased through his bedroom door and changed back into Danny Fenton, quickly phasing out of his clothes and throwing on pajamas. He had school tomorrow. Sleep couldn’t come soon enough.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_10:35 pm, Sunday, April 15 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

“I think that’s all the further we’re going to get today,” Maddie yawned.

Vlad rubbed his eyes. He’d been staring at his own skin cells through a microscope. The cells were indeed fascinating. The Fentons may not be far off base with the theory of this type of ectoplasm functioning like Anti-Matter. It absorbed everything they threw at it like some kind of unquenchable black hole. Vlad had been more than happy to put back on his shirt and help the Fentons as an equal instead of a lab rat.

He counted his lucky stars the dislocation of his shoulder hadn’t caused any noticeable swelling or bruising, though it still ached. He had been absolutely terrified to remove his shirt, he hadn’t gotten a good look that morning. If there had been swelling, Maddie would have seen through to the extent of his plight. Vlad was relieved he had managed to convey the gist of the danger he was in without admitting to his continual assaults. Sharing that detail wouldn’t help, and the thought of trying to explain what was going on, to Maddie no less, shook him to his core. It had escalated far past a point where Vlad was comfortable confiding. No one could find out. His image, his power, was everything, and if he couldn’t have power he would settle for the illusion of it. If he admitted his helplessness, it would make it more real. Vlad was rather surprised he hadn’t had a nervous breakdown yet. The thought of the contents of the pharmacy bag in his nightstand didn’t help matters.

“Sorry V-man,” Jack yawned as well. “We’ll work on it more tomorrow, ok?”

Vlad nodded. “I’ll be out most of the day, I have to meet with the environmental committee. They’re protesting my planned development. And I’m sure something else will come up, it always does.”

“We have enough samples to work with I think,” Maddie replied. “This stuff is indestructible.”

Vlad was quickly losing hope. The three of them put together had almost as many diplomas as Vlad had fingers, and they still hadn’t seen the slightest sign of progress. Vlad hoped he wouldn’t have to involve the Guys in White – though since their focus was the elimination of all ghosts they would likely sooner kill him ‘to prevent the spread of infection’ than cure him. It was one of their men, a rogue agent who thought he knew better, who had tried to kill him at the hospital when he was suffering from the effects of ecto-acne after all. Vlad barely repressed a shudder at the memory of black gloved hands at his throat while he was too weak to fight them off. Thank god his intangibility had managed to occur when he had needed it for a change. He’d been so terrified back then, unable to control his powers, unsure of what was happening to his body, and the Guys in White had only made things infinitely worse.

“Come on Vlad,” Maddie ordered as she began to ascend the stairs. “The lab is off limits while we’re not in it.”

“Of course,” Vlad replied, shaking himself from his memories. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Are you going to come by after work then?”

“Yes,” Vlad answered. “Three minds are better than two after all.” _And I’ll be safer from all the ghosts I’ve hired, hurt and betrayed_ , he thought to himself. _The less time I spend in solitude, the less likely…_ _Fudge Buckets._ He was going to be alone again as they went to sleep, wasn’t he?

As Maddie and Jack disappeared into the bedroom _next to his_ Vlad entered his own and paused to think. He’d gotten a shower long before the others woke – waiting until the evening as was his habit was ruled out by the traces the Master had left behind, so he didn’t really need to shower again. What was the point if it was only going to be used to torture him? His pajama shirt was a stained, unwearable mess, and he didn’t have spares.

Vlad briefly considered not bothering to wear anything at all since the blasted ghost may just remove his clothing anyway, but that was giving in, damn it, and Vlad refused to give in.

Vlad changed into fresh underwear and his pink pinstriped pants, removed his hair tie, and lay down on the bed. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be given a day’s reprieve. Maybe buying lubricant at a pharmacy in a small town where everyone knew his name had been punishment enough.

Vlad set his phone alarm for 4:30 am. He wanted to be showered, changed, and out of the Fenton household before the lot of them woke up. And then he waited.

Every time Vlad started to drift off to sleep he would suddenly jolt awake, hyperventilating. But he was still alone. This was driving him insane.

“If I didn’t know any better,” a voice said, causing Vlad to jump, “I’d say you were eagerly anticipating my arrival.”

The Master. Hands on Vlad’s chest pulled him into a familiar suffocating embrace. “Ah well. Maybe someday.”

“Just let me sleep,” Vlad did his best to sound authoritative. “It’s been a long day.”

“A long day trying to figure out how to kill or extract me you mean,” The Master said. “It’s impossible, by the way. That must be depressing.”

“We’ll never know unless we try,” Vlad growled.

“Mmm,” the Master hummed, grabbing Vlad and manipulating him into a seated position, pulling billionaire into his lap. “I wonder,” he purred and his breath was hot against Vlad’s throat.

“Nngh,” Vlad grunted as he felt lips descend upon his jugular, nipping and sucking at the skin with enough force to be painful. The Master was making vulgar wet sucking noises between little gasps of breath, and Vlad felt the man’s arousal at the base of his spine where he was pressed into him. Brilliant.

“You know…” Vlad said cautiously. “I’m sure I could find a way to get you another host. Seriously. I still think Jack Fenton would be a better target for your – um, predilections.”

A rumbling vibration indicated the man’s low chuckle more than any sound did.

“I didn’t realize your hatred for Jack ran so deep. If you’re interested, I could bring him in on the fun. He seems to be fond of you. I’d love to see how he’d react to you coming apart. It would torture the both of you at once, I’m sure.”

Vlad felt sweat bead at his brow. It wasn’t the first time the ghost had alluded to allowing other people to witness his mortification.

“If you’re so eager to bring in witnesses, why do you only show up when I’m alone?”

“Don’t be so hasty,” the Master replied, moving to a space higher on Vlad’s neck and giving it a lick. “There’s a process to this. I intend to own and control you. I will be your conqueror in every sense of the word. Besides,” The master whispered seductively, biting down on Vlad’s sensitive skin briefly. “I think it’s more fun if they figure out what is going on with you on their own, don’t you?”

Vlad’s blood ran cold. The Master resumed sucking at his neck, just beneath his ear.

“You’re… you’re trying to…”

“Yes,” the ghost breathed happily. “These marks will be hard to ignore. Though the orange one’s obliviousness is rather startling.”

Vlad growled, and pulled away. He was rather surprised when he was allowed. He didn’t get far though before the ghost spoke.

“Trying to escape me right now is rather foolish. Jack and Maddie just laid down, and I’m sure they’d come over to investigate if you make too much noise.”

Vlad faced his captor, at a loss for words. “You said…” he whispered. “You said you wanted them to figure it out on their own.”

“Or you could tell them. Or you could force my discovery by screaming for help, that would be interesting. They’ll be powerless to stop me and then- then you’ll know you’re truly mine. Now come here. Sit down, back against the headboard.”

Vlad stared. The Master grinned. There was silence. Vlad couldn’t make himself move. The Master seemed to realize this and made a grab for Vlad’s arm, and Vlad found himself allowing his manipulation. He couldn’t think. He always had a plan, and when his plans failed, his money was usually enough to bribe his way out of any situation, and he had enough tech to make ghosts happy when brute force failed but _this_ – how did one deal with _this_?

Vlad grunted unhappily when the Master unbound his loincloth and grabbed hold of the drawstring. The man grabbed Vlad’s hands, tying them at the wrists, then forced the bound limbs up and over Vlad’s head and tied them to the horizontal bar of the headboard, just behind Vlad’s head. It left Vlad seated elbows in the air, and fists touching the back of his neck. Uncomfortable, but not painful. It would be easy to lie flat with his arms above him, but Vlad didn’t want to end up in an even more submissive pose. When Vlad’s pants and underwear were tugged off leaving him completely naked, he couldn’t bring himself to protest. It had been inevitable after all.

The Master climbed over Vlad’s lap, one knee to either side of his waist. Bottomless black eyes stared out of the pale face into Vlad’s blue ones. Then the distance was closed, and the man kissed Vlad on the lips.

“Mmrgh,” Vlad softly protested. The ghost persisted.

It was a weird sensation, Vlad thought, to be kissed on the lips when one wasn’t in the mood for such things. Vlad staunchly refused to reciprocate, and endured the other man moving against him. Really, who had ever decided kissing was an erogenous thing to do? In the heat of the moment, it makes sense, but like this, it just seemed so bizarre.

The Master apparently wasn’t pleased with Vlad’s lack of reciprocation, because he bit his lip harshly. Vlad let out a grunt, feeling his lip get dragged into the other’s mouth.

“You said no biting,” Vlad protested as soon as his lip was let go.

“I said no biting if it was done to cause harm. This is pleasurable.”

_NOTHING YOU DO IS PLEASURABLE!_ Vlad’s mind screamed. But Maddie and Jack were next door. Probably still awake. Or…. doing other things. God, how thick were these walls? Overhearing Jack and Maddie together was horrifying enough, but the potential to hear them while he was in such a state was intolerable. He hoped his presence had well and truly killed their sex life because there were some things his broken heart just couldn’t handle.

The Master had shifted focus and was kissing, licking and nipping a trail down Vlad’s chest. Vlad let out an involuntary whimper when the Master sucked a nipple into his mouth.

It actually felt kind of good. If he could ignore who it was that was doing this to him, maybe- Vlad shut down that line of thinking. He was being violated, it wasn’t supposed to feel good, and trying to enjoy his own violation was likely a shortcut to insanity.

The Master got off him and stood up. Vlad looked at the man questioningly, but the Master determinedly opened the nightstand’s drawer. _Oh_.

“Just in case,” the Master whispered softly. “You know, the last time I was in your realm, Vaseline was a new discovery, and it certainly wasn’t marketed as lubricant. Now they sell lube in scents and _flavors_. You humans have gotten so creative in recent years. I wish you’d picked something less generic, the other stuff looked fun.”

Vlad was tense, but the Master set the tube to the side, and resumed his position over Vlad’s legs, sliding down his body to suck hard at a spot just above Vlad’s navel and Vlad’s body jerked in response.

_I’m going to be covered in hickeys,_ Vlad thought frantically as the ghost sucked at the tender flesh. There wasn’t much he could do about it though. He couldn’t stop his repulsed flinch each time the ghost found a new spot, couldn’t think of a good way to dislodge the ghost that wouldn’t warrant another severe injury – or an angry Jack Fenton bursting into the bedroom with a cry of ‘Ghost!’

The Master removed his mouth from Vlad’s abdomen, and Vlad relaxed slightly before he had the ghost’s lips on his own again.

There wasn’t any real flavor to them, but Vlad could smell the ghost at this range, unique, musky and somehow human, and he knew it was a scent he would never forget. It was imprinting on his brain.

Vlad let out a surprised cry into the man’s mouth as a hand closed around his limp penis. A tongue shoved past his parted lips, and Vlad recoiled, only just managing to stop himself from biting down. Vlad had kissed like this before, but human mouths tasted of something. This was like making out with the void. Vlad’s fists clenched and he pulled against his bonds, wanting now more than ever to shove the ghost off him. They held.

The Master moved away and Vlad sucked in a deep breath.

“I want you – to remember –“ the Master said between kisses down his chest. “Just how much – _damage_ – I can do to you – from this – position.”

And then the ghost’s mouth was on him, taking his uninterested member in, and much to Vlad’s shame he felt himself harden slightly at the contact, and he flinched back, trying to get away. Blueberry Crepes. It felt good, and it was terrible, and it needed to stop.

Vlad shook his head. The Master continued, bobbing his head around his cock, licking, teasing, sucking, and soon Vlad’s half erection had peaked full mast. _Traitor,_ he thought at the rebel appendage. Not that it helped.

Vlad let out a slight moan and he knew he was in trouble. The Master was pushing Vlad’s knees farther apart, pulling him down and forward so he could get a better angle above Vlad’s crotch, the cord preventing Vlad from lowering his arms or resting his head. Vlad couldn’t possibly fight back, one bite from the Master and he might suffer irreparable damage. That wasn’t something he was willing to risk.

Vlad bit his lip and was embarrassed as tiny whimpers occasionally slipped past anyway. He screwed his eyes shut, willing the world away. This wasn’t happening. That’s right. He had never experienced this before, but if it had been Maddie, he was sure he would –

Vlad shook his head. No. He would not fantasize about Maddie while in the presence of his assailant. He would find the Master’s scent and touch inextricably tied to his thoughts of her, and that wouldn’t do.

Instead, Vlad did his best to think of nothing. He was so tense, he didn’t think he could possibly reach climax. What if he never did? How long would the Master persist? Minutes? Hours?

Vlad hadn’t been paying attention, so his breath let out harshly as he felt something warm and wet enter him. A finger. He had used lubrication after all. The burn was practically non-existent.

Vlad’s eyes snapped open. The sight of the ghost’s head bobbing around his cock was obscene, and Vlad quickly closed his eyes again. A litany of curse words echoed in his head, _but a refined gentleman does not swear, you can’t get what you want if you swear_ -

“Mmmnngh” Vlad uttered, far louder than he would have liked when the probing finger touched something inside of him, something he had only experienced once before in his life, again brought on by his assaulter. _What in the hell is that???_

Vlad was familiar with the glands and organs in the area, he did have a Masters in Biological Engineering after all, and had taken his fair share of anatomy courses, but of course none of his text books said anything about any of them being a sexual pleasure point. The prostate gland made the most sense but… he was going to have to google it, of all things.

Vlad let out another embarrassing moan as it, whatever _it_ was, was stimulated. Again. And again.

He bit down harder on his lip, struggling to contain himself as The Master increased friction on _whatever the hell_ that spot was while bobbing his head with increased speed. Vlad’s toes curled, his fists clenched, and he was reasonably sure he was biting through his lip in an effort to keep quiet, and it was intolerable, it was disgusting, it was exhilarating, it was wonderful.

And then he was coming. Vlad saw white and his body seized with the force of it, a high-pitched cry forcing itself from his lips unbidden.

As he slowly came to his senses, he realized it had been the most intense orgasm he had ever had. And it was with a man ghost. Whom he loathed with every fiber of his being. It had to be due to that blasted spot….

Vlad shuddered. The Master was sucking and licking him clean, swallowing the lot. It felt good, but so violating. He had come against his will. Of all the indignities…

The Master kissed him again, and Vlad jerked backward against the headboard, tasting himself.

“I figured I should take care of you for a change,” the Master purred. “You’ll have to repay the favor someday. But I assume you want to sleep, yes?”

Vlad was stunned as he was untied. The man hadn’t climaxed himself, yet he seemed to be done. Vlad wasn’t going to complain, but he certainly didn’t understand.

Vlad rubbed his wrists, casting his eyes about for wherever his underwear and pajama bottoms had landed.

But hands were on him again, and this was getting ridiculous, and Vlad pushed, shoved and protested but soon found himself laying down on top of The Master, held in his grip like an oversized teddy bear.

“Don’t struggle,” The Master said, grabbing Vlad’s hair and holding his head flat to his chest. “Sleep.”

Sleeping with a somewhat chilled, hard, muscular body beneath him was _not_ Vlad’s idea of a good time. He could feel every contour of the hairy chest against his own, his waist and legs trailing off to the side. The arms on his back allowed little movement though. He figured he could keep pushing – but that might encourage a second round. And he _did_ need to sleep. It had to be possible, Jack had always joked he could sleep through anything.

Vlad forced himself to relax, letting his arms drop impotently to either side of the man beneath him, and willed for the darkness to take him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_4:30 am, Monday, April 16 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad woke to the beeping of his phone. He groaned softly, reaching for where the sound was coming from, only to still as he felt arms tighten around him.

“Morning, pet,” the Master purred in his deep baritone, silencing the phone himself.

“Give me that,” Vlad grumbled, taking his phone from his grasp. “Now let me go. I need to get ready for work.”

“If I must.”

Vlad was released. This had been the first morning the ghost was present when he woke up, and he wasn’t happy about it. Vlad picked up his discarded pajamas from the night before, shoving them into his overnight bag. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he sensed the Master leering at him from the bed.

“How late will you be if we go another round?”

“Very,” Vlad lied. “Now if you don’t mind…”

Vlad gathered his bag and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him. At least he had a clean suit.

He quietly snuck down the hall, mindful of the sleeping Fentons, realizing only halfway through his journey that he probably should have put on some clothes before leaving the room. His mind was certainly addled, it wasn’t like he was at his mansion.

Thankfully, he entered the bathroom without incident, but cringed at his reflection in the mirror. Not good.

His lip was split in two places and it had scabbed thickly. Vlad was reasonably certain he’d done that to himself. If his ghost powers were active, it would have healed in a few hours but now that they weren’t – days maybe? He couldn’t remember.

Three hickeys stood out prominently on his neck. His shirt was high collared, so that should cover at least one of them, but the other two? Doubtful.

One on his collarbone, one above his heart, three on his abdomen. There was no mistaking what they were. He couldn’t come up with an excuse.

“Damn it,” Vlad swore audibly, before cringing at his own words. This was going to become a habit if he wasn’t careful. But wait-

Vlad did a double take. The tattoo was gone. He remembered closing the door to the bedroom while the ghost lounged on the bed. Was he… gone?

Vlad somehow doubted it, but he relished that he may be able to shower in peace. Still, just incase, he would make quick work of it.

Ten minutes later, Vlad stood in front of the mirror, teeth brushed, beard shaved and trimmed, hair damp but drying, no tattoo. He still couldn’t transform or access any ghost powers, but maybe if he waited long enough… He tried to contain his excitement as he put on his usual ensemble and tied his hair back. Unfortunately, just as he thought, two hickeys peaked above his collar. He’d have to figure out what to do about that. Thankfully, with the blood washed off, his lips looked like maybe they had split from being too chapped. That, at least, was explainable.

He opened the bathroom door and nearly collided with the Master.

“Were you giving me permission to visit your friends?” The ghost asked. “If so, I seem to have wasted the opportunity. I was quiet as a mouse. And by the way, you forgot this,” he said, slipping the tube of lube into Vlad’s suit pocket behind the red handkerchief and giving the pocket a pat. “You never know when you may need it.”

Vlad watched in stunned silence as The Master seemed to shift into him from where the hand touched his chest, fading away, absorbed by Vlad’s body until he vanished from view entirely.

The ghost really had been gone. It seemed they needed to be in physical contact for the Master to be reabsorbed – and it seemed this may be one ghost who couldn’t go through walls. Vlad quickly entered the bathroom again and undid his bowtie and the top few buttons of his shirt. He had to check. Sure enough, the tattoo was back. Only now Vlad felt he knew something, something that could be useful. For the first time in a while, Vlad began to hope.

***

Vlad told his driver to wait with the limo as he entered his mansion. He wouldn’t be here at all, except staff were forbidden from entering his home unless summoned, and he had a mouth to feed.

Vlad entered the kitchen to a meow as the white cat announced her displeasure. Fizz Pops. She had run out of food after all. Thankfully there was still plenty of water, he had a dispenser for that.

“I’m so sorry, Maddie,” Vlad said, refilling the food bowl. “I didn’t mean to be so long. Did you miss me?”

Luckily, she was quick to forgive. Maddie purred happily, spreading white cat hairs all over his pants. Too late Vlad realized he wouldn’t be able to phase them off of him like normal. Oh well. It was worth it.

He picked up the feline, and she tolerated his embrace.

“You’ll never hurt me, will you?” Vlad asked into her fur. “You won’t betray me. You’re a good friend.”

The cat mewed at him, and Vlad set her down before he pushed her past her limits. Cats. So much easier to read than people. He really should have taken Danny’s advice more seriously sooner.

“Really?” A voice asked, and Vlad found himself surrounded with an oppressive presence once more. “You’re calling a cat a friend?”

“Shut it,” Vlad said, not looking at the ghost. He realized with some shame he was employing the logic of ‘maybe if I ignore it, it’ll go away’.

“Do you not have _any_ friends? Jack thinks he’s your friend but you hate him, you lust after and objectify Maddie, but she hates you, even the teenagers scorn you.”

“Powerful people like myself don’t have friends, we have allies, benefactors, pawns,” Vlad explained, walking through his mansion toward Maddie’s litterbox. As he passed his living space, a hologram popped up.

“Welcome home, dearest heart,” It said in Maddie’s image. Vlad dismissed it with a command.

“Seriously, this is too much,” the Master scoffed, trailing after Vlad. “Can you honestly picture that spitfire woman saying that phrase with an ounce of sincerity?”

Vlad grit his teeth. Of course not. His Bachelor’s had been in robotics with a focus on artificial intelligence. Programming was his specialty. He was more than capable of making the Maddie hologram act how she really was- but how she really was preferred Jack over him, so…

Jazz’s words echoed in his mind unbidden.

_“Take care that you actually love my mom, not the version of her you have in your head.”_

Vlad shook his head. Now wasn’t the time for this.

“A cat that can’t talk back, a picture that flatters you mindlessly, all named Maddie. You sure you aren’t looking to turn her into a pet? You know, I’m skilled at getting people to act the way I want them to,” the Master purred. “I may be willing to let you conquer Maddie as I am conquering you.”

“You mean rape her?” Vlad asked aghast. “What the – what kind of person do you think I am?!”

“I think you’re the kind of person who likes to control everyone and everything around him, damn the consequences. You want to control her. Make her love you. Make her adore you. You can break her in slow. Watch her shatter. And then she’ll have no choice but to love you if she wants to survive.”

Vlad clamped down quickly at the slight arousal he felt at the Master’s words. Maddie being his was appealing – but not like that, never like that, if he was that sort of man he would have overpowered her and had his way with her long ago. It was just the thought of finally obtaining Maddie that made him feel excited, that was all. He could never hurt her.

_Killing Jack_ would _hurt her. You’re trying to break her after all. You’re just like the Master._

Vlad felt ill. He was sure raping Maddie was a line he would never cross, but would he have? If the Master had never come into his life, was that the road he had been traveling down? It was a horrifying thought.

“Is that-“ Vlad started, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. “Is that what you’re doing to me? Breaking me so I have no choice but to love you if I want to survive?”

“More or less,” the Master responded, observing idly as Vlad changed cat litter. It was a pain without his ghost powers. He may have to look into hiring an actual staff instead of occasionally calling a cleaning service if this kept up.

“I will be your everything,” the Master purred lasciviously. “I will be your conqueror, your friend, your lover, your light in the darkness. As long as you have me, you will need nothing else. This is what I do to people. I find men either accept my teachings, fall desperately in love or in lust – or they snap and kill themselves. I wonder which you will be.”

_I wonder_ , Vlad thought, feeling faint.

The ghost seemed to be satisfied with Vlad’s silence, and he smiled slightly, grabbing Vlad’s shoulder, merging with him once more. Maddie the cat was at his ankles again. Vlad looked at her sadly and bent down to scratch her behind the ears.

Vlad had often thought to himself that he needed friends, but he knew he had never seriously tried to make any. People only wanted to be his friend for his money. Women only wanted to sleep with him to tie him down and inherit his fortune. These were hard lessons he had been taught growing up, from the woman who knew best, his calculating mother, Natasha Masters. Hell, his own birth had been a money-making scheme on her part. Not that he blamed her. It had worked after all, and he was alive as a consequence.

When she died, he had vowed to defy her, though his ambitions didn’t really exceed that of a rebellious teen. He’d made some friends at college for the first time in his life, something which she would have staunchly disapproved of. People only looked out or their own self-interest, she would have said, friends were about as real as unicorns or big foot. Vlad had thought she was wrong but look how that turned out. Jack and Maddie hadn’t wanted his money, because they didn’t know he had any (a laughably paltry sum compared to what he had now, and on an allowance at that), but they betrayed him nevertheless. They abandoned him in that hospital. His mother had been right after all.

_They only stopped coming because you kept screaming at Jack that he ruined your life_ , his brain helpfully reminded him _. Quite incessantly, wouldn’t even let him speak, threw your food at him too. Maybe if you had not acted out of anger, they would have visited you a second time._

But he couldn’t have acted any other way, when they came to visit him that first time, holding hands, clinging to each other like young lovers do. It had ripped his heart out. Maddie had owed him, damnit. He wore his heart on his sleeve for her, did everything a man was supposed to do, and Jack, who did none of those things, got her anyway. Vlad had been careful. He’d been mindful of his image since a small child – it was required of him. Allowed only the most refined of hobbies, learned to speak with a posh accent, received the finest education. Money meant you were owed respect, his manner commanded it, and so when had decided after starting his Master’s degree that she would be his, she should have sensed it, should have reciprocated his subtle advances beyond their initial familiarity, should have– should have-

_“Humans are not machines.”_

Jazz’s words again. Perhaps the Master was right. Maybe he was just as bad as he was. Maybe he had been looking to conquer or acquire Maddie. Maybe he didn’t love her after all. Perhaps it was just lust and a desire for dominance?

No, that wasn’t entirely it. There was genuine affection there too. He had never given her a hint that he was wealthy, because then it wouldn’t have been him she fell in love with. It had to be genuine, he’d thought, and now the world knew his name, and he’d never have a genuine friendship, nor a true lover, if such things existed at all.

Vlad understood the theory of friendship, of having a mutual fondness and respect toward another human being, where you would help each other out because it felt nice, or like the right thing to do, rather than because you planned on calling in the favor- even if his mother scoffed at the very notion. He’d tried to build something like that between himself and his assigned college roommate, Jack, mostly because Vlad logically knew it was better to be on good terms with a roommate than openly hostile. Vlad hadn’t had experience with making friends, just alliances, and he had always kept people at a distance. Still, for a while, he had thought he had somehow accidentally achieved friendship after all, with Jack and Maddie both, and it had felt nice, but then the accident…

All Maddie had ever been was a friend to Vlad and he had ruined it all, hadn’t he? His feelings for her were corrupted and twisted. Not as bad as the way the Master felt towards him… at least he hoped not… but still…

Vlad was suddenly very tired. He exited the manor listlessly, asking to be driven to city hall. It was going to be a long day.

***

If Vlad had known just how long his day would be, he would have found an excuse to stay home. The meeting with the environmental committee had been a disaster. They were so staunchly opposed to his development, even though it would have brought so much extra revenue to the ghost ravaged town. Vlad hadn’t even been able to overshadow them to change their mind, and he was overruled by the city council. So, no new development. Fine. See if he cared.

Vlad had been sitting at his desk pouring over a proposal to add a fountain at the park – and where were they going to get $30,000 exactly? – when a shout shook him from his reverie.

“I am the Box Ghost! Beware!”

Any other day Vlad would have zapped the thing and been done with it. But this hadn’t been any other day. He didn’t have ghost powers. And so, Vlad had actually had to run down the hall to get his guards who had the ecto guns to take care of it. Him. Vlad Masters. Running. From. The. Box. Ghost.

Vlad grabbed a gun from the security guard before he remembered what the Master had said about him holding weapons. Much to his annoyance he found himself placing the gun in his desk so he couldn’t be accused of holding it, but it was nearby enough to keep him safe from further attacks.

It only went downhill from there.

Vlad had read the same line on the proposed tax levy to pay for ghost damages several times now he was sure, but he couldn’t seem to focus. One guess why.

“You need to relax,” Hands massaged his shoulders, skillfully. “You’re so tense.”

_I wonder why that is_ , he thought sarcastically. Someone could come through that door any second. There was no lock. And here he was with his assaulter in a public building in broad daylight.

Vlad tried to focus. He worried if his attention lapsed for even a moment, the Master would escalate to other things.

_I can’t solve this on my own_ , Vlad thought to himself. _I can’t physically overpower the Master, but maybe, if I can separate us like I did this morning, someone else can_. _I need help._

Jack and Maddie’s faces immediately came to mind. But no. He couldn’t possibly. He’d already gotten enough raised eyebrows, snide comments and whispers from his staff and city council for the marks on his neck. If he showed up to the Fentons like this, they may deduce – correctly, he might add – that he had obtained them while in their house. Or perhaps they would think he had gotten them while at work. Both deductions would make Vlad look like some kind of man whore. Who had a romantic liaison at their friends’ house or at the office anyway? And he certainly wasn’t going to admit he was given hickeys against his will.

_If I had only taken over the United States, no, the world, this wouldn’t be happening. I’d have everyone at my beck and call. It’s my destiny to rule, those with power seize it, and those without it forever struggle to obtain it._

Vlad had power, so ruling the world eventually had only made sense. It was what he was destined for, and perhaps, if Danny had agreed to help, he’d already have achieved it.

Then Vlad remembered his flight of terror from the Box Ghost earlier, his current nervousness as hands kneaded his shoulders, and juxtaposed it comically with the thoughts of world domination. Or world _conquest_. Damn it, he was not like the Master, names aside! Though even if he _had_ taken over the world, he still wouldn’t have had friends. Could he be happy that way? Even being leader of an enslaved world wouldn’t make Maddie love him, for him. It would just be more lies. Which was more likely to lead to happiness? Power or friendship? Revenge or love?

Well, Vlad had power _now_ as a billionaire if nothing else, but that still wasn’t enough to solve his ghost problem discreetly. If he could buy silence, someone else could easily bribe exposure for a larger sum. He needed friends, confidants, things that were impossible to gain by manipulation. Vlad thought desperately of who he could go to besides the Fentons to help him expel his resident rapist. Danny was out of the question given the ghost’s ability to neutralize ghost powers. Unfortunately, the only person he could think of who genuinely looked up to him was Valerie, and she was just a kid, a pawn, and a barely effective pawn at that. The Master would likely have to be bodily attacked through normal means, and Vlad doubted very much he could trust Valerie with a real gun.

Briefly, the image of Danielle flitted through his mind. But no, she was almost certainly dead. _You could have had a family_ , his conscience reminded him. _If you hadn’t been so wrapped up in your own ego, focused on getting exactly what you wanted instead of what you already had, focused on proving a point by taming some version of Daniel, you could have had a family. Your hubris was your downfall, it always has been. Maybe you should create a new dream instead of chasing dreams long dead_. _How have dreams of_ conquering _, Jack, Maddie, Daniel and the world, in varying forms, turned out?_

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose. All this introspection wasn’t healthy. It was the Master’s fault. These doubts served no useful purpose. Once he figured out how to get rid of The Master, he would resume his quest for power tenfold. He would not abandon his goals. Power was everything. And the Master had all the power at the moment. Vlad would take back everything that had once been easily within his grasp. He would. He was Vlad Plasmius. He had overcome hell on earth, was better than a mere mortal, he was destined for greatness… except those thoughts somehow felt impotent and hollow now.

“Tired, pet? I know of something that will wake you up….”

“I’m fine,” Vlad snarled, picking up the paperwork, and scanning it with purpose, still not absorbing the words. It may be that hubris was indeed his downfall, but he would hardly have any hubris at all if this kept up.

So… the Fentons were the only choice he had who had a snowball’s chance of taking care of his problem. Vlad tried to imagine explaining himself in full to them. He’d have to explain how the Master definitely was contained within his own body and explain they could hurt him when he emerged from him. Logically, they’d then need to draw the Master out of him, they’d ask how it was done and what would he say? _Leave me alone long enough and he will emerge and try to rape me?_ Vlad couldn’t think of any way to do this without explaining the ghost’s designs, or without having those designs forcibly aired. Without explaining why he hadn’t said something before. Explaining the bruises on his body. Maybe he could pass them off as finger marks, and say The Master liked to get him alone to poke, prod, and torture him?

They’d want to set up an observation of him either way, he realized. They’d have to, if the Master never appeared in their presence. Put cameras on him secretively. Watch him and lie in wait for the ghost to show up. Maybe they’d even record it. Vlad gagged at the thought. And what would be the point of it anyway, since the Master observed everything he did? Was it even possible to take him by surprise when the Master could fuse with him again in an instant? If he asked the Fentons to plan a surprise attack, would the Master find a way to force Vlad out of Amity Park?

“I think it’s time for you to leave,” A voice whispered hotly in his ear. “See what those friends of yours think of your new bruises. Maybe you should introduce me.”

Vlad couldn’t do it. Explaining his predicament to the Fentons was simply unimaginable. It was humiliating, likely ultimately useless, and if he was in their presence for too long, forced to expose the bruises, Maddie may figure it out anyway. He may be at risk of old enemy ghosts discovering his powerlessness if he stayed at his own place, but… He grabbed the desk phone and dialed a familiar number.

“Hello! You have reached Fenton Works!” Jack’s voice boomed. “We’re out kicking ghost butt and can’t come to the phone right now, but leave a message and we’ll call ya!”

*beep*

“Hello Jack, Maddie,” Vlad told the answering machine. “It’s Vlad. I’ve gotten caught up at the office and will have to stay late. I think I’ll head to my place after work. Please continue to do research, I’ll pay you for your efforts of course, as well as material costs. Call me if you find anything.”

He hung up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_2:50 pm, Monday, April 16 th, Casper High_

_~Danny~_

“Of all the times to get swamped with homework,” Danny scowled, exiting Casper High after the last bell.

“Hey, at least no ghosts have attacked today,” Sam said brightly.

“Don’t say that!” Danny and Tucker shouted in unison. Sam rolled her eyes.

“So… your place?” She asked.

Danny nodded. “We’ll do our homework and get ahold of the specter speeder… somehow.”

“Cool. I texted my dad. It should be fine,” Tucker said.

“My grandma is always cool with it, no worries. I may have accidentally on purpose forgotten to text my parents,” Sam grinned.

Jazz waved from her car. “Hurry up slowpokes!”

The three teens climbed into the car.

“Jazz, we want to go into the ghost zone. I think we should be able to find a book on the Master,” Danny explained. “I also want to interrogate Vlad. I think that ghost could be trying to take him over. Overshadow him slowly. Want to help?”

“Of course,” She replied. “I could interrogate Vlad. If that ghost really can destroy ghost powers, I don’t want you at risk. Why do you think the ghost is trying to overshadow Vlad?”

Danny explained what Skulker had said about the Master being unable to interact with his own kind without killing them.

“I think he wants to use a human life, so he can have a life at all. I just hope Vlad hasn’t been taken over already.”

“I suppose that’s a possibility,” Jazz said contemplatively. “Maybe we should hold off on the interrogation in that case, see what else we can find first.”

“Then the ghost library may be our only hope,” Sam said. “We should finish our homework first though.”

Danny grimaced. “Let’s do it quick, I don’t want to be in the same room with Vlad longer than I have to.”

***

When Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz entered the Fenton household, it was quiet.

“They must all be in the lab,” Jazz said. “Though I suppose Vlad could still be at city hall, he left without saying a word again.”

“I don’t like it,” Danny grumbled, settling at the kitchen table, and pulling out his math textbook. “Vlad was unpredictable before, but now we have to worry about the Master too. I don’t like the idea of Vlad sneaking around, especially if he’s harboring a dangerous ghost who he has no control over. He’s immune to all our weapons!”

“It’s probably better if Vlad isn’t here, dude,” Tucker concluded. “I get that Vlad wants to feel safe and all, but he can’t put you all in harm’s way, just so he can protect himself. That’s just selfish.”

“Vlad’s always selfish,” Sam agreed. “But what’s he supposed to do, just wait around for the ghost to attack – conquer – overshadow – whatever - him? If it’s not too late already. I’m kind of nervous about that tattoo. Maybe it’s marked him for death, like in that movie with-”

“Speculating will get us nowhere,” Jazz said firmly. Danny noticed something off in her tone.

“You know something,” Danny accused, recognizing that look.

“No, I just have a theory.”

“What is it?” Sam asked, pulling out her science textbook. Jazz shook her head.

“I need more evidence.”

“Jazz,” Danny groaned.

“Drop it Danny. If I’m wrong, I will have worried you over nothing.”

“Fine. Just promise me one thing. Could we be in danger if your theory proves to be right?”

“No,” Jazz said slowly. Danny noticed.

“Is Vlad?”

Jazz paused.

“Let’s just say, if I’m right, we _really_ don’t want to leave him on his own for too long.”

Danny nodded, dissatisfied with her answer, but understanding his sister well enough to know she wouldn’t say anything further.

“Then we’d better get cracking. Um, Jazz, how much do you remember about trigonometry?”

***

“Done!” Danny said triumphantly.

“’Bout time,” Sam teased.

“Hey, not all of us are math geniuses!” Danny griped.

“You should be good for the test I think,” Jazz said. “If you can slow down and avoid typos on your calculator, I don’t see any reason you shouldn’t get an A on your next test.”

“Thanks for your help,” Danny yawned. “We should probably eat dinner. Where are mom and dad anyway?”

As if on cue, the basement door opened and the Fenton parents entered the room.

“Hello Sam, Tucker,” Maddie said with a smile. “Staying for dinner?”

“Yes please, Mrs. Fenton,” Tucker replied happily.

“Sam, I just planned on making some hot dogs, but I’ve got peanut butter and jelly if you want that?”

“Thanks, Mrs. Fenton,” Sam said. “I can make it myself if you’d like?”

“No, I don’t mind, they’ll take a while to cook anyway.”

“Please don’t use the ecto microwave.” Danny pleaded.

“Now Danny, I know it didn’t turn out well last time, but I’m sure I’ve worked out all the kinks-“

“ _Mom_ ,” Jazz begged.

“Oh, all right. I’ll use the stove. You kids have no sense of adventure.”

“By the way, where’s Vlad?” Jazz asked.

“Vladdie said he had some mayoring to do and he wouldn’t be coming by,” Jack said, grabbing the spare stools from the corner to add to the small kitchen table. “You know V-man, always going out of his way for the good of the town.”

The group exchanged awkward looks. Jack was clearly the only one who felt that way.

“No progress, then?” Jazz asked.

“None,” Maddie grumbled in frustration. “It would probably take a lifetime just to figure out all the properties of this anti-ectoplasm alone-“

“Anti-ectoplasm?” Danny asked.

“Yes, that’s what I’ve decided to call it. It consumes ecto-energy, nullifies it completely like a black hole. It would probably make a completely lethal ghost weapon, if only we could replicate it. But without understanding it, that would be dangerous. This stuff could turn out to be capable of more devastation than an atomic bomb.”

“It’s that dangerous? And somehow it’s not hurting Vlad?” Jazz inquired. Maddie frowned.

“Well we really don’t understand anything about it at all,” she said, grabbing the hot dogs from the freezer, and preparing them in a pot to boil. “Ghosts can transfer their will through ectoplasm. Maybe an anti-ghost can transfer its will through anti-ectoplasm?”

“We need Vladdie here,” Jack groused. “We should check his vitals again and keep an eye on him. This is something we’ve never seen before. It could be dangerous.”

“I’m surprised he cancelled to be honest,” Maddie said. “Even if work is keeping him late, he should still want to come over here – the last time Vlad asked for help, all of you were dying from Ecto-acne. And the time before that, he was blasted out of the ghost zone! He wouldn’t have come at all if he wasn’t worried he might be in serious danger, he’s too proud for that.”

Maddie efficiently made a peanut and butter jelly sandwich. “…We should probably have chips too, I’m sorry this isn’t the best dinner.”

“That’s ok Mrs. Fenton, you weren’t expecting guests,” Sam reassured.

“That’s Vlad for ya – unpredictable as the weather,” Jack said amiably. “And he doesn’t have to be here really, we can work on it by ourselves-“

“Yes, but it’s delaying our work on the plasma ray, and we have a good paying contract for that,” Maddie complained. “If Vlad really is seeing this ghost out of the corner of his eye all the time, we could be dealing with something serious, but he seems so flippant when he answers questions – it’s like he wants us to treat it seriously but doesn’t do so himself!”

“Mom? The pot’s boiling over.” Danny pointed out.

Maddie quickly turned down the burner.

“Sounds like you guys need a break,” Jazz said, and she winked at Danny.

“Oh… uh, yeah! Totally!” Danny cottoned on. “You should go out for the night, stay out of the lab, come back with a fresh set of eyes.”

Maddie frowned. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to take a break,” she said. “The new radioactive isotopes we ordered won’t arrive until tomorrow anyway.”

“There’s an 80’s night in New Caspervale,” Tucker said, typing away at his PDA. “Looks like they’re holding it at the Serenity Bar?”

“I know where that is,” Maddie lit up. “It’s been ages since we’ve been there. They have excellent food too.”

“Cool, you should totally go,” Danny said.

“It’s good to kick back once in a while,” Jazz agreed.

“Vlad would totally dig it,” Jack said. “We should bring him!”

“Don’t forget he’s caught up at City Hall, dear,” Maddie said. “Besides, it’s been ages since you and I had a date night.”

“True,” Jack agreed, not one to be kept down. “I’ll grab my boom box!” and off he rushed.

“Will you kids be ok in the house by yourselves?” Maddie asked, divvying up the hotdogs among the teens, and handing Sam her sandwich.

“Of course, Mrs. Fenton, don’t worry about us,” Sam said.

Danny did his best to avoid smiling excessively as he ate his food alongside his friends. Really, it was a good thing his parents could be so easily manipulated at times. They’d probably be out until closing, so they should have a few hours to browse the Ghost Writer’s Library.

“Ok kids, we’re off!” Maddie said, waving from the door, dolled up in her 80’s clothing.

“Call us if you see a ghost!” Jack shouted enthusiastically. With a slam of the door, they were gone.

“Just incase we’re not back in time-“ Jazz said, and she began writing a note. “There. We’re at the movie theater, cell phones turned off now. As long as they don’t dive into the lab, they won’t notice the specter speeder missing.”

Danny found himself very grateful for his sister. He wouldn’t have thought of that.

After a few minutes, everyone had finished eating. Danny was the first to stand up.

“Come on,” he motioned. They all filed into the lab.

“Thank goodness we have enough spare suits,” Jazz said, digging through boxes for the bulky white and black ones meant for extreme protection. “It’s going to be hard to turn book pages in these gloves though.”

“Yeah,” Tucker grumbled, grabbing the offered ensemble. “Maybe you should tell your parents to make better suits.”

“It’s not that bad,” Danny protested. “I didn’t have a problem.”

“You’re used to wearing gloves as Phantom though,” Sam pointed out, pulling the suit over her clothes and snapping the helmet in place. “There. Radiation protected.”

Sam, Tucker and Jazz piled into the Specter Speeder, and Danny transformed into his ghost form.

“You guys ready?”

Sam turned on the Specter Speeder from the driver’s seat.

“Yep, looks like it’s fueled up and ready to go.”

“Follow me,” Danny said.

And off they went.

***

_This is impossible_ , Danny thought to himself, slamming another book shut. Beside him, Sam did the same.

“What the heck do ghosts have against appendixes!” She shouted.

Danny smiled. “That’s exactly what I thought.”

Tucker closed his book as well. “That’s the fifth book I’ve gone through, and I didn’t see any references to a ghost called the Master, OR One Touch Kill.”

“Maybe we’re in the wrong section,” Jazz said, making as if to rub her eyes but hitting the helmet of her suit.

“Where else would we find out about a monster ghost other than a section about monsters?” Danny asked.

“A history section maybe?” Jazz suggested. “Didn’t Skulker say the Master was thousands of years old?”

“I can’t imagine Skulker reading a history book, but you may have a point,” Danny conceded. “This isn’t working. We should split up and search for it.”

“This library is infinite,” Sam disagreed. “Let’s stick together, we can’t afford to get lost.”

Danny nodded, shelving his book back where he found it. Slowly they ventured forth, checking titles for something promising.

“Seriously, where’s a library catalog when you need it? Or the Dewey Decimal System!?” Jazz grumbled.

***

“This looks like it!” Danny said triumphantly after around 10 minutes of searching. “Reign of the Ghost King; Era of Darkness; The Dawn of Deep Dimension Civilization…”

It was getting late – 8:30 at night according to Tucker’s PDA – but the group grabbed more books without complaint. There was no table in this part of the library. They would have to sit on the floor.

***

Danny was halfway through scanning the chapter titles of “Dark Power – Ghosts Who Ruled the Battlefield” when Jazz broke the silence.

“…. I think I found something,” she said. She didn’t sound happy about it though.

“Awesome,” Tucker stretched. “If I had to read one more book I might scream. But hey, at least now I know all about the owners of the 10 Black Magic Crystals, who can apparently destroy the world if ever brought together.”

“All of this stuff seems super dangerous,” Sam murmured. “I can’t imagine what Vlad would do if he got his hands on half this stuff.”

“Jazz?” Danny asked. “What’s the matter? Does it not say how to beat him?”

“No, it doesn’t, not really. But it’s not completely pointless, it has a ton of information.”

“What book is it?” Sam asked. Jazz held it up so they could see the title on the cover.

“Interviews with the Ancients, by Cat-o” Tucker read.

“Kay-toh” Jazz corrected. “Looks like the author just went around interviewing various ghosts in… 1955,” she said. “The only criteria he seemed to have is that the interviewees were born before 1000 A.D. He gives his observations, asks a few questions, and moves on. Most of the ghosts in here aren’t very remarkable, they’ve just been around a long time. But One Touch Kill got his own chapter.”

“What’s it say?” Sam asked. “Can you read it out loud? It’s kind of hard to read over your shoulder.”

“I… suppose so. I’ll summarize the important bits. It’s probably faster than having each of us read on our own,” Jazz said somewhat hesitantly. “Just don’t interrupt me until I finish or we’ll be here forever.”

She looked back at the text.

“The first few paragraphs, Cato describes seeing the ghost he calls One Touch Kill, who he knew from the tattoo – there’s a matching drawing – and he describes how he’s sitting aimlessly on a floating piece of rock. He says he knows the tattoo from a picture book he had as a child, warning of the lethality of the ghost who bore it, how everyone the ghost touched would die faster than you could blink.”

“A picture book?” Danny asked. “If Skulker found out about this thing from a picture book-“

Jazz glared, and Danny promptly shut up.

“Cato negotiated with One Touch Kill, asking if he could interview him, and One Touch Kill agreed on the sole condition that Cato push his rock to a nearby island so he could stop floating about in space. Cato observes from this that One Touch Kill is incapable of ghostly flight or levitation, an abnormality. Cato doesn’t see the harm in it, so agrees to the terms.”

Jazz’s eyes scan the page.

“Cato asks for One Touch Kill’s name and he calls himself the Master. He’s asked what he thinks of the name One Touch Kill, and he says it’s a true statement, but hardly a name. ‘Hereinafter the ghost known as One Touch Kill shall be called the Master’ it says. But the Master isn’t his true name either, the ghost seemed rather adamant that his true name could not be revealed as true names had power. The author suspects he forgot it, or he was trying to project a certain image.”

“Earliest memory…. Ghost zone was mostly purple not green – the Master was a weak blob of a ghost born of the passion of two humanids – which is apparently the scientific classification for ghosts who not only look human, but reproduce via ordinary human means. The Master was an abnormality, born as an Ecnoid – a ball of energy without gender or defining physical characteristics – and he felt alienated from his kind. He was weak as well and fared poorly in power struggles with his clan’s peers. Oh, there’s a footnote here that based on the description of a purple ghost zone, this ghost is probably from at least 40,000 B.C.”

“Wow,” Sam whispered.

“Mmm. I’m paraphrasing,” Jazz said. “Cato asks quite a bit about the early ghost zone,” she flipped through a few pages. “That was his academic focus after all. Let’s see…. Here. So a traveling merchant takes pity on The Master, sees how he is ostracized from his peers, and sells him an amulet said to grant a single wish of those who wear it, but warns at a terrible price. Master buys it… He knows the risks but he doesn’t care, he thinks he can use Black Magic to control which negative penalty he incurs…”

Jazz eyes scanned the page.

“Cato asked quite a bit of questions trying to figure out what the black magic was, but the Master insisted he couldn’t remember, it was too long ago, but there is a footnote here that the amulet was almost certainly an amulet called The Monkey’s Paw. We should look that up too if we have time.”

“The Master performed black magic on the amulet and tried to trade his ghost powers – since he had very few to begin with - for a humanid ghost form. Apparently, he felt envious of the act of sex his peers seemed to enjoy so much but he was denied.”

Tucker started coughing, a deep red flush visible just beneath his dark skin. Jazz glared.

“You’re going to need to hold it together because it only gets worse from here,” she said.

“Sorry, sorry,” Tucker said. “Just the thought of ghosts going at it…” he shuddered. “Maybe you can skip those parts?”

“Not possible. Anyway,” Jazz continued brusquely. “The amulet fused with the Master once the ritual was done, making him look humanid, and leaving him with a tattoo where the amulet was placed. The Master thinks it worked but unfortunately the first ghost he touches dies instantly. He’s obtained his humanid form but is still incapable of having sex due to this condition. He tries to remove the amulet, but he cannot as it is literally a part of him now. He ended up killing his entire clan in a blind rage.”

“It goes on – and on – looks like Pariah Dark found a way to toss the Master’s island at an invading army, and he killed a good portion by touch alone before the enemy got enough sense to fly away. He’s used quite a while in this manner before by sheer happenstance he falls through a portal into the human dimension.”

Jazz looked grim and glared at the book’s text as though it had personally offended her.

“…Jazz?” Danny prodded.

“Sorry, I’m thinking of how best to summarize this, the Master gets pretty graphic.”

Her frown deepened.

“So… the Master wanders for a while on the earth, in whatever year it was, until he finds a farm, and a human farmer, male, and as the Master has done for a while now, he reaches out to touch him, hoping his target will survive. This time he does. It seems humans can withstand the Master’s touch with no ill effects. But the Master looks like an otherworldly demon to the human - well, Danny knows how he looks - so the human starts freaking out and tries to run away. The Master chases down the human and rapes him.”

Danny felt as though the floor had been pulled out from under his feet, cold sweat prickling at his brow as he took in Jazz’s words. His head felt as though it had been submerged in a bucket of ice, and he felt vaguely dissociated from his body. Ghosts had done a lot of terrible things to the people of Amity Park, theft, violence, property destruction - it hadn’t occurred to Danny that rape may be a crime ghosts perpetrated as well.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Jazz was determinedly looking down at the book, and he remembered her insistence not to interrupt, and he closed his mouth again. He felt Sam grip his hand tightly, and he squeezed back. This was not what he expected to hear. Not at all. Danny’s sense of foreboding greatly increased as he realized where the story was likely going, but he couldn’t bring himself to string together the thoughts of what it meant for Vlad.

“He gets – really -really graphic about it,” Jazz said faintly. “I’m surprised Cato recorded it. Anyway,” Jazz turned the page, “after the Master climaxed inside the human,” Tucker grunted, looking pained – “he got sucked inside the human’s body. It was a – reverse possession he calls it, he was trapped inside, not possessing the human, but possessed himself.”

“The Master says it was like the amulet, which was now a part of him, craved the human form, and would not leave it, no matter what the ghost did. The Master struggled unseen in his human prison for years, panicking, before giving up and resigning himself to his fate. However, this resignation allowed his lust to grow, and as it grew, the amulet became undone from the human, and he was released. The Master came to realize that he would be free when he coveted the human host’s body, just as the amulet did, but the instant his mind filled with thoughts that didn’t involve his host, the amulet would pull him into the host once more, and the Master would silently observe until the urge to dominate, or humiliate his human host sexually released him again.”

“The Master grew to accept this aspect of himself, and embraced it wholly, dubbing himself the Master instead of One Touch Kill. Only when his human host died did the amulet finally let him free to pursue his next victim.”

“Cato asks the Master if he could switch hosts before the host died, and the Master said he could not. He had thought, apparently, that if he completely lost interest in the host, he could pick another one, but the Amulet coveted the body it had found until it expired, and if he lost interest he was simply trapped inside the host body, waiting for it to die. The Master started going into excessive detail on the ‘conquering’ of his victims and how he made sure to keep it interesting…. It seems as long as the human host was still capable of fighting back, or feeling humiliation, or if he could make the human lust after him wantonly, the Master kept interest. He only got trapped if the human became an expressionless shell. As a result, he had to be careful not to push the host into an apathetic coping mechanism. Some tried to disinterest him by drugging or drinking themselves into a comatose state, but he would molest them while sleeping to humiliate them when they woke up. Apparently, he prefers inflicting humiliation in a power play over accepting willing amorous advances, so the more the human host grows to love him, the less he appears.”

Jazz looked a little green as her eyes continued to peruse the text.

“Anyway, the most important part,” she said. “Cato asked how the Master ended up back in the ghost zone, and he said he had been tricked by a human. A priest. He had assumed, due to the nature of the priest’s occupation, his host would be safe around him. He took to, erm, sexually humiliating his human host repeatedly in front of the priest for a period of years. Apparently, he had done this voyeuristic type thing many times before, just not usually with the same audience, and not over such a long period of time. The priest had tried to attack the Master, but when that happened he’d just take refuge in his human host once more. While he could be hurt via human weapons, he healed very quickly. But he underestimated how much his actions were affecting the priest, and not just his host, and the priest performed a mercy killing on the host, causing the Master to lose his refuge.”

“The Master knew he was vulnerable in that position, so he tried to rape the priest to claim him as his new host, but the priest apparently had a gift to open rifts into the ghost zone that chose to manifest itself in that moment of panic. The year was 1899. He’s been wandering the ghost zone since.”

“That’s it,” Jazz concluded, closing the book with a quiet air of finality.

For a few moments all was still.

“So…” Sam started, the first to break it. “Can we interpret the only way the Master gets a new host body is through rape?”

“Specifically getting ejaculate inside the host, whether that be vaginally, anally or orally,” Jazz said, looking a bit ill at her own words. “So yes. By rape.”

“And… the Master can manifest whenever he lusts after his host… and rape them again?” Sam asked slowly.

“Yes.”

Silence again.

“Dude, this is way more than we can handle,” Tucker said finally. “I mean seriously, risking getting shot with ecto energy is one thing, but going against a forty-two-thousand-year-old serial rapist with an immunity to ghost weapons?”

“Yeah…. We have to get someone to help. Maybe we should tell mom and dad?” Danny asked.

“But – but this is crazy!” Tucker protested. “This is too much for them, they’ll need an army or something!”

“But if they confront Vlad with an army…” Sam said slowly. “Won’t the ghost just stay hidden? If he knows he can get hurt by human weapons, I don’t think he would show himself if there were too many people in the room for him to avoid damage by.”

“We may be able to force him out if he gets overwhelmed with lust,” Jazz said. “Maybe if we drugged Vlad, the ghost would be affected? With some kind of aphrodisiac maybe?”

“If they were connected that way, the Master would die when his host died,” Danny pointed out. “Also, if Vlad stays at our place, and the ghost likes an audience while it… while it…”

Danny shuddered. He remembered the ghost striding toward him, reaching out, only to stop as Vlad grabbed his feet, while Vlad shouted at him to run. Vlad had figured out what the ghost was after, Danny realized, remembering the elder halfa’s stark fear. Yet he had told Danny to run anyway. Danny wondered if Vlad would have done that if he had known the ghost would possess him until death did them part. He strongly doubted it.

“Maybe,” Sam began with an air of desperation, “Maybe there’s some way we can destroy the Monkey’s Paw and break the possession.”

“It’s like the short story,” Jazz said. “Except that was a literal monkey’s paw that granted three wishes. There may be a book on it…” She trailed off. The library was infinite. Did they even have that much time?

“Guys…. It’s 10 at night. The Fentons might be getting home soon, and if I’m not back by 11, my parents will freak,” Tucker said.

“There’s no time,” Danny griped, frustrated. “What should we do? Do you think we should – I don’t know – drag Vlad out of his mansion? If he’s alone…”

“Danny that’s dangerous, especially for you,” Jazz said. “Tucker’s right, this is more than we can handle. We should focus on figuring out more about the ghost zone’s Monkey’s Paw, but it’s going to have to wait until after school tomorrow. Maybe Vlad knows something about it.”

“If we ask Vlad for help,” Danny said slowly, “Won’t the Master figure out we’re on to him? He could take Vlad into hiding or something.”

“Are you saying we have to help Vlad without letting him know we’re helping him?” Sam asked.

“I – maybe – I don’t know! Maybe – I think Vlad expects us to help, he asked all the Fentons for help, and he probably wanted us to search the ghost zone since he couldn’t, he’s manipulative that way – but we can’t reveal how much we know, or how close we are to finding a fix, because if Vlad knows, the Master knows.”

“We’re not close to finding a fix,” Tucker pointed out.

“Let’s just – let’s just go back for now,” Jazz said.

“This is what your theory was, wasn’t it Jazz?” Danny realized. She nodded, looking absolutely miserable.

“Maybe – maybe it’s only happened the once? And Vlad felt safe enough to go home?” Danny asked hopefully.

“We can hope,” Jazz muttered. Danny’s face crumpled at her tone. She didn’t believe that. Worse, Danny didn’t believe it. He remembered that sound he’d heard when he got back from the ghost zone last time… had he overheard an assault in progress? Could he have stopped it somehow? It didn’t bear thinking about.

“Danny, we can’t hold ourselves at fault for whatever happens to Vlad. It’s to be expected that figuring this out will take time,” Jazz said soothingly, catching his expression. “We’re doing everything we can.”

Danny nodded miserably. But as the party trudged back toward the library entrance, Danny knew that wasn’t true. The very fact that he couldn’t tell his parents what they had found in the library and how, proved it wasn’t true. Danny felt he could help a lot more – if only his parents knew about his ghost powers.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_6:00 pm, Monday, April 16 th, City Hall_

_~Vlad~_

The day was over before Vlad was really prepared. Worse, he had gotten practically nothing done. His statement to the Fentons that he would have to stay late was almost the truth. At least there were no immediate deadlines he had to meet.

As Vlad climbed into his limo and directed the driver back to the Mayor’s mansion, his anxiety grew. He wasn’t sure he had made the best decision in avoiding the Fentons, but he had been periodically haunted throughout the day by thoughts of how they would treat him. Like fragile glass probably. And sure, Maddie might actually be moved to pity, instead of her near constant state of anger but – well, pity was something you directed at someone who was lesser than you. Vlad refused to be looked down upon.

All too soon, the ride was over, and Vlad walked up the steps into the mansion like a man walking to the gallows. Maybe the ghost would leave him alone? Granted, he’d barely spent more than an hour today outside of his presence….

Vlad’s hopes were soon dashed. He appeared the very second he closed the door.

“Not going to your friends?” He asked. “Pity. I wanted to see you try to explain yourself. It’s inevitable they’ll learn about our relationship, but I do oh so love to watch you squirm.”

“Shut it,” Vlad said. “I’m going to cook dinner, then I’m going to read a book, and you’re going to leave me alone.”

“Oh, am I?” The man said. Vlad refused to look at him. “Is this a game? Let me try. You’re going to run. I’m going to catch you. And I’m going to hold you down and fuck you using that useful lube of yours.”

Vlad looked back at that. The Master’s face was inscrutable.

_I’d like to see you try_ , is something Vlad wanted to say, but if the Master tried, he likely would succeed, so it was a rather worthless taunt.

“I need to eat food to survive,” Vlad said instead. “I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

“The human constitution is not so frail that missing a single meal will cause death,” the Master stepped forward aggressively. “And I’ve been without a partner for over a century.”

“Then one day without sex won’t kill you either,” Vlad snarled. He walked determinedly toward the kitchen, trying to prevent himself from trembling. Showing fear only seemed to excite the Master.

He had barely gotten three steps when he was knocked to the ground.

“Get off me!” Vlad shouted, kicking back. It was almost a relief to shout. He had been forced to be so quiet while he was violated at the Fenton’s. Now there was nothing to prevent him from fighting back at full intensity.

The ghost grinned and did as was asked. Vlad was confused, but he wasn’t going to question it. Vlad got to his feet and made a show of straightening his suit contemptuously. He could at least _act_ unaffected.

“I believe I said ‘you’re going to run’. Don’t disappoint me now.”

“…What?” Vlad’s blood ran cold.

“You heard me. I’ll give you a 5 second head start.”

“Run where?”

“Anywhere you like,” the Master purred.

Vlad had a sudden vision of himself running up the mansion’s long driveway toward the street, only to be grabbed and dragged kicking and screaming back into the mansion. The neighbors may witness. They may call the police, or the Fentons if they realize his assailant was a ghost, and he could be saved, at least from this particular assault, but then he might end up on the front page of the paper for it. How would the newspaper interpret his plight?

No. Running wouldn’t solve his problem. He needed to get rid of the Master’s possession. At this point, he only saw two potential avenues where that would happen. The first would be if the Fentons had a breakthrough and managed to figure out how to hurt and destroy the Master’s unique type of ectoplasm. The ghost seemed unfamiliar with the advancements of human technology, there may indeed be a way. The second would be to somehow set up a scenario in which the Master was outside of his body and there were people there to physically separate and attack him. But since the Master only materialized when he wanted to…. Well. That wasn’t really an option.

Vlad toyed with the idea of trying to proceed to get dinner despite the Master’s insistence he run, but if he started walking he’d probably be tackled again. If he played the game… Vlad paused, an idea suddenly occurring, and he began to grin. Yes. That just might work.

Vlad bolted, not wasting a moment on further indecision. Deeper into the mansion. It was silent behind him. The ghost was keeping his word and giving him a head start.

Vlad ran through the many rooms, coming to his study. It contained an antique mahogany desk, laptop in the center. The walls were lined with books, many of which contained information on the ghost zone, or were even written by ghosts themselves. But what he was really after-

Vlad slammed the double doors shut behind him and locked them quickly.

The suits of armor. One suit of armor to either side of the door, carrying giant battle axes. They were as large as Vlad was tall with blades about the size of Vlad’s head. Vlad quickly worked a battle axe free, stumbling a bit with the weight of it. He kept forgetting how much extra strength his Plasmius form had afforded him.

Vlad hefted the weapon, gripping it a bit like a baseball bat, palms sweaty. If he was right, the Master couldn’t read his mind, even when possessing him, he just observed. If he could catch him by surprise…

Vlad waited, heartbeat pounding out of his chest, and Vlad swore he could actually hear it. This was it. He doubted he’d get a second chance. This had to count. It had to work. It _had_ to.

“Ready or not!” A voice roared, and Vlad nearly dropped the axe. He had never heard him shout. “Here I come!”

There was no sound of rapid footsteps. Just silence. Vlad readjusted his grip, and strained his ears, waiting. Vlad swallowed and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, his saliva seemed to have dried up. Funny, if hubris was the cause of Vlad’s failures, hubris would be the cause of the Master’s, the man’s overconfidence in his prey’s obedience was laughable. _Another way in which we are alike_ , Vlad’s thoughts bordered on hysterics.

A creak. The rattling of a doorknob. Vlad let out a shaky breath through his nose.

**_BOOM!_ **

The doors bowed inward but the lock held. They would not endure a second blow like that.

With a crunch, the doors burst open under their second onslaught. Vlad barely had time to observe the hulking form that crashed into the room, shoulder first, all pale skin, muscle, and pulsing black veins. With an unbidden cry that sounded more like a shriek than a battle yell, Vlad swung the axe.

A scream of pain indicated Vlad had struck true, but the weapon had been too heavy for him, and even the act of swinging it had unbalanced him. Vlad had lost his grip when the blade made contact, and he found himself stumbling towards the door as the Master’s momentum carried him past Vlad into the room, taking the axe with him. It wasn’t over.

Vlad regained his balance and whipped around to observe the damage. The Master had landed on his hands and knees, and Vlad could see a deep gash in his neck, just above the right shoulder, and it bubbled black blood, quickly drenching the pale form in muck. The axe was on the floor.

Vlad made a dash for it, he had to finish the job, he had to. His hands gripped the handle, and he was in the process of hoisting it up when a weight crashed into him, pushing him on top of the weapon, dangerously close to falling improperly on the blade. _No!_

A hand fisted in his hair and Vlad’s face was brutally thrust forward into the carpet, and he let out a cry as his nose was crushed, bright light dancing in his vision.

“Drop it,” A voice growled, low and dangerous. Vlad gripped the handle tighter. This was his chance, his only chance, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste!

The hand on Vlad’s ponytail pulled, and Vlad found himself automatically following it to avoid the pain, picking the axe up with him. He swung blindly, but there was nothing in front of him, and he was pulled off balance by the motion.

Vlad felt a kick connect with the back of his shin and he went crashing to the ground again, still clinging to the axe handle as if his life depended upon it, because his life _did_ depend upon it, and he landed on top of it with his hands underneath him, blade to the right of his head. Vlad moved to get up off the weapon but a bare foot came crashing down into the center of his back, and he sprawled out again, his fingers in agony, caught between the handle and the floor.

“I said _drop it_ ,” The Master snarled.

Vlad tried to hoist himself up, pushing against the floor with the fists he still had wrapped around the axe handle. He couldn’t let go, because if he let go-

A body fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground, and he had no leverage as he was pushed into the carpet again, hands crushed beneath his own body weight and the Master’s.

 Suddenly hands wrapped around his throat from behind.

He couldn’t _breathe_. Unlike the last time the Master had choked him, the hands held tight, and for a moment Vlad was in the hospital all over again, looking into wild brown eyes on a white suited, black gloved man, as the heart monitor beat out an alarming rhythm and the pulse-ox alarm shrilled, and somehow, somehow, he fell through the hospital bed and halfway into the floor, but he wasn’t in a hospital, he didn’t have his powers, he was dying-

Vlad desperately clawed at the hands around his neck, and he was pulled bodily from the ground, axe forgotten as he struggled just to _breathe_ -

He was let go, and as Vlad took a deep, ragged gasp, a quick right hook connected with his cheek just below his left eye, and Vlad spun with the force of it, cheek burning, and his hands barely managed to prevent his nose – surely it was broken already – from smashing into the floor again.

Vlad was too dazed to do anything, and he let out a small whimper as he felt hands dig into the back of his suit jacket, and he was bodily hoisted from the floor and slammed into his desk.

The air left Vlad’s body in a rush as his stomach caught the edge, and his face smacked into his closed laptop painfully. He instinctively tried to rise, but hands were upon him, moving him into position so that his feet were on the ground, and he was bent over the desk at his waist. Hands gripped his pants and yanked, and his belt dug painfully into his waist as he was forced out of the garments with it still buckled, pants and underwear pooling around his ankles. _Wait-_

**_Smack!_ **

Vlad flinched at the impact as he felt an open hand collide with his bare backside with enough force to send him sliding a few inches forward across the desk, his feet lifting slightly off the ground.

The blows were hard and fast, and choking noises bubbled out of Vlad’s lips as he was struck repeatedly, too fast for comprehension. He hadn’t been struck that way since he was a small child, but no parent would ever hit that hard, or that many times, this went far beyond discipline, it stung, and it burned-

Vlad wasn’t sure how many times he was spanked before he was flipped onto his back, his suit jacket grabbed, and he was hoisted into the air.

Vlad instinctively placed his hands atop the ones gripping him for balance, and he blinked the blackness from the edges of his vision as he looked down at the Master.

Vlad had never seen him so furious. His teeth were clenched, black eyes pulsing malevolent light. Vlad found slight satisfaction in the black blood coating the man’s shoulder and dripping down his chest, but the wound which had seemed so deep and near fatal a minute ago was nothing more than a small slit in the skin, and as he watched, it hissed and steamed as it sealed itself shut, and then it was like it had never happened at all.

He’d failed. The gravity of the situation came crashing down as the adrenaline wore off, and he was shaking like a leaf, feet dangling above the ground, pants around his ankles caught only by his shoes, staring into the eyes of death itself.

“What did I say… about weapons?” the man said, and Vlad flinched as though he had shouted. Though he sounded perfectly calm, Vlad could see a pulse point twitching in his forehead, betraying his rapid heartbeat and his unadulterated rage.

Vlad said nothing. What could he say? His face itched uncomfortably as something trickled down from his nose. He wasn’t sure if it was snot or blood. Probably blood. He could smell it.

“Do not underestimate the ways in which I can hurt you,” The Master said flatly. “I know the limits of the human body very well. I can easily push you to the breaking point, time… and time… again.”

Vlad grabbed tighter to the hands holding him up instinctively.

“Now……” The Master seemed to be pulling himself together piece by piece, his breathing evening out. “Before your little rebellion, I think you decided to play a game. You were going to make dinner, read a book, and I was going to leave you alone. I proposed instead you run, I would chase you, and I would hold you down and fuck you. I seem to be winning.”

“….with lube,” Vlad whispered so soft it was almost inaudible to his own ears.

“What was that?”

“You said you were going to hold me down and … and do me… with lube,” Vlad reminded, louder this time, though he couldn’t quite bring himself to say it bluntly.

“You really think you deserve any comfort at all after that stunt you pulled?” the Master growled, voice low and threatening. Vlad didn’t say anything. He was ashamed at mentioning it at all, but his brain was rapidly conjuring images of the Master bending him back over the desk and penetrating him as hard and as rapidly as he had spanked him, and Vlad was sure if that occurred, his body might not hold together.

The grip on his suit relaxed, and Vlad collapsed to the ground, landing on his butt in an ungraceful heap, letting out a half scream at the contact. The spanking had done more damage than he’d thought.

The Master walked a few steps away and kicked the axe to the corner of the room. He approached Vlad again glaring down at him haughtily. He observed him for a bit, then reached roughly into Vlad’s suit pocket, pulling the tiny tube from where it was hidden behind the red handkerchief.

“We’re going to the master bedroom, or whatever it is you call the room you slept in that first night,” the master growled. “Crawl, as you are. I will follow.”

Vlad blinked at the Master warily trying to gauge the seriousness of the request.

“Or, I fuck you dry right here against this desk.”

_Just like I thought_ , Vlad mused vacantly, before pulling himself back together.

It took some effort to orient himself on the floor. He went to pull his pants back up but a warning glare stopped him. He put his hands on the floor, knees close together, ankles bound together by his pant legs, and he crawled.

He felt a flush creeping into his cheeks as the Master gazed dispassionately at him, and he quickly surpassed the man on the way to the door.

It was difficult. Vlad found himself trying to drag his feet in such a way that his shoes came off, and after about twenty or so feet he succeeded, and his pants and underwear were quick to follow. This freed him up to move at a semi decent speed but…

A chuckle echoed from behind him. “Eager, aren’t we?”

Vlad grit his teeth and crawled toward the staircase, ignoring the ache in his knees, grateful his bedroom was up the stairs and not down.

The Master followed dutifully and Vlad winced as a foot nudged his bottom, not hard, but enough to remind him how closely he was being watched.

“There’s something erotic about a half-naked man in a suit. Especially when it’s this half.” Another nudge against his tender backside. “If you don’t hurry, I don’t think I’ll be able to wait until we reach the bedroom.

Vlad realized with some self-depreciation, it didn’t really matter to him, as long as the man wasn’t violent enough to tear him open. If he required stitches on that particular area, there might not be enough money in the world to contain it, HIPPA laws be damned. Still, a mattress had to be better than a floor.

As Vlad observed drops of red splash the carpet beneath his face, he marveled at his own detachment. He felt numb. Where had his fight gone? The recent failure stung, and perhaps it was a survival instinct to let go. To not think.

He was at the bedroom before he realized it.

“Stand up.”

Vlad stood.

“Face me.”

Vlad did.

“Strip.”

This time, some hesitation. Vlad was used to having his clothes dragged off him, often violently, but to do so willingly under these circumstances-

A glare from cold eyes. The room was bright. Vlad realized they’d never really done anything in a room with the lights on, unless you counted the bathroom, and the atmosphere had been completely different. The harsh light from the ceiling made everything worse.

Vlad’s hands moved, reluctantly, clumsy over the buttons of his suit jacket, though it seemed the top two were missing, likely popped off from the force of his manhandling. Bowtie next. He dropped each to the floor. Button up shirt. Hair tie. Socks.

Vlad set his jaw and deliberately looked to the right as he went, avoiding so much as looking at the Master.

“Beautiful.”

Vlad shuddered. He guessed he had some life left in him after all.

The Master stepped forward, and Vlad braced himself to be manhandled, but instead, his hand was grabbed roughly, and something was placed in his palm. Vlad stared at the tube uncomprehendingly. The lube. What-

“If you want to use it then use it,” the Master commanded.

Vlad’s mind screeched to a halt. _Wait,_ _what? How?_

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” he said hesitatingly. The Master snorted.

“Well I’m not letting you touch my dick after that stunt you pulled earlier,” the man growled. “So I guess you’re going to have to use it on _yourself_.”

Vlad blinked, his mind refusing to comprehend the words. An amused chuckle met his ears.

“Put it on your fingers and use them to stretch your asshole,” the Master commanded. “Face me while you do it, I want to get a good view. Or don’t, and I’ll just take you now.”

Vlad floundered. That was one request he couldn’t fulfill. No way. No.

But then, unbidden, he remembered his hand around the Master’s large dick, how much larger it had been compared to his finger, and how much that finger alone had burned versus how pleasurable it was (ugh, don’t think about it) when it had been lubed up and used to stimulate him to climax.

_It’s rape. It’s supposed to hurt_ , Vlad thought to himself _. But it might hurt anyway, even with lube, just less._

Funnily, it was that thought that pushed Vlad to move.

Vlad wasn’t really sure what the best way was to go about it. So he went with what he knew.

He remembered being on his back, legs spread wide, when the Master had digitally penetrated him, the time when it didn’t hurt, and a traitorous part of his male anatomy had liked it. Vlad would duplicate the scenario. What was one more humiliation now, anyway?

Vlad lay down on his bed stiffly, piling pillows where he planned to put his head. Might as well be comfortable.

Forcing his legs to fall open seemed like a super human feat. It hardly helped that the Master had moved to stand directly at the foot of the bed, staring at him. It cut a horrifying image, especially since the black blood remained, evidence of the earlier violence.

Vlad cringed, and looked away, opening the cap on the lube and squeezing some onto his hand. He coated his fingers with it liberally. Now that he thought about it, what was the best angle?

Vlad did his best to stop thinking entirely and reached down the front of his body, bypassing his dick and balls, and he was incredibly uncomfortable like this, as some part of his mind was recalling his masturbation habits and was insisting, unhelpfully, that he was doing it wrong, that he needed to touch himself.

He was indeed able to reach at this angle, like he’d hoped, though he might have to sit up a bit straighter if he wanted to dig deep. He really didn’t want to, but he probably should.

Vlad probed tentatively at his own asshole with a single finger, and grunted, slightly surprised at how easy it was to slip in. Now what? He unintentionally glanced to the foot of the bed as if for direction.

The Master was staring, and his gaze could only be described as lustful. Vlad looked away quickly and thrusted his finger experimentally. It was an unnatural feeling, but it didn’t hurt and for that Vlad was grateful.

Since it didn’t hurt, there was really no reason not to add another finger, so Vlad did just that, but he hissed a little as he slipped it inside. Ok. Now that was uncomfortable.

It was an unpleasant burn, a stretch, and Vlad worked hard to make himself relax. Every time he almost managed it, he would remember where he was, who was with him, and why he was doing this and he’d go stiff as a board and the pain would intensify.

“It’s easier to relax if you touch your dick,” a voice mocked from the foot of the bed. Vlad grit his teeth. He would not. That wasn’t part of the agreement, and he would not make himself enjoy this.

Vlad closed his eyes and focused, breathing deep, and slowly his muscles relaxed and he was able to thrust the two fingers into his body just past the second knuckle, and the burn slowly faded. Vlad flinched as he accidentally brushed that spot – his prostate, google had helpfully confirmed earlier – and he quickly adjusted to miss it. He was _not_ going to get hard while doing this.

Two fingers was probably enough right? But Vlad knew his fingers were long and slim. Three may be better.

But he had humiliated himself enough. He was becoming more aware of the Master’s presence. The Master was breathing heavily, probably with arousal. Shit. Vlad had tensed up again at the thought, and the burn returned. His hand stilled. He couldn’t keep going. He removed it.

The Master took that has his cue, easily removing his own minimalist clothing with the single pull of a drawstring, and he climbed onto the end of the bed, grabbing Vlad’s ankle and pulling him down a few feet before flipping him over onto his stomach.

Vlad allowed himself to be manipulated, but he did grab onto the pillows, keeping them under his head as he moved. He ended up with his head turned to the left on the pillows, arms gripping them tight, his pectorals touching the sheets. A few more pulls by the Master manipulated his ass into the air, his knees spread wide, back arched. Vlad suddenly recalled a blonde-haired woman with large breasts holding the same pose for him, except she had also reached her hands back, spreading herself wide, and the sight had been one of the most erotic things Vlad had experienced.

Vlad imagined the Master thought the same of him, and a shiver of disgust worked its way up his body.

Hands gripped his hips punishingly and Vlad grunted as a thumb dug into his right buttcheek, pulling it aside, the spanking from earlier making the grip hurt.

Vlad sensed the Master was kneeling behind him. He felt something warm and blunt touch his anus and his whole body tensed.

“Relax,” a command, but before he could comply, a blunt thickness rapidly entered him and Vlad unintentionally let out a yell, and it was too big, too fast-

He started to try to get up, but a body loomed over him, pressing down roughly between his shoulder blades.

The room was filled with harsh breathing, Vlad’s pained whimpers, and the Master’s arousal.

The man was still, and Vlad tried his best to relax, but he realized belatedly two fingers definitely hadn’t been enough, he should have used three-

The man moved, and Vlad cried out again, struggling a bit, placing his hands on the mattress, trying to get leverage.

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

A definite threat. Vlad stilled, gritting his teeth, forcing his arms to wind around the pillow again. Not that this didn’t hurt already. But his nose was probably broken, he could barely get enough air through it, and the Master was right- his body could endure more such damage without needing immediate medical attention.

Vlad felt the burning in his anus, and his insides felt as though they were being scrambled, sticking to the intrusion slightly as it thrust in and out. His body occasionally suddenly felt as though he needed to take a dump before the feeling would rapidly fade, and that certainly didn’t help. A horrible squishy sound filled the room as the lube Vlad had prepared with was churned. Vlad’s face burned. He forced himself to relax – tensing and releasing, gradually relaxing for longer periods as he adjusted – it didn’t hurt as much as he expected. It didn’t hurt as much as he had hoped. The feeling of violation was so strong, he felt it should hurt so much worse. While his prostate was certainly being agitated by the intrusion – how could it not be – the pressure wasn’t direct enough to arouse him, and for that much he was grateful.

The hand was removed from his shoulders as he ceased struggling, and the angle was adjusted slightly as the Master’s hands gripped Vlad’s hips.

Vlad let out a startled cry as his whole body was pulled backward until the dick was buried deep within him, and he felt balls slap his ass as he was filled to the hilt. He was pushed away then pulled back. Again. And again.

And Vlad realized with horrified shame, the Master was no longer thrusting but was pulling Vlad’s body onto his dick like he was some oversized sex toy.

Vlad was pushed into the mattress and pulled back, push, pull, push, pull. Even though the sheets were of the highest quality it was still uncomfortable, and Vlad groaned as the unpleasant burn was back full force, his body unable to avoid tensing at the rough handling. And after a fashion, the Master began to thrust again, jerking his hips forward at the same time he pulled Vlad toward him, pulling out as he pushed Vlad away. The Master was letting out harsh pleasured breaths as he thrusted and each utterance made Vlad feel more vile, more disgusting, more used.

Vlad tried to hide in the back of his mind, shut out reality, but every time he almost succeeded, a hand released his hip briefly to slap his ass, and Vlad would clench down involuntarily and the Master moaned at the increased pressure. He must have been giving off some visual cue that his mind had spaced.

Unable to flee, even mentally, Vlad endured, incapable of doing anything except focus on the sensation of being raped, and was this technically the first time? What constituted rape anyway? And he wondered desperately when it would be over.

Then suddenly, it was. A grunt sounded behind him, and something warm and wet spilled out around the intrusion, and Vlad winced as his mind filled with an image of what he likely looked like, bent over submissively and leaking cum.

The Master stayed like that for a few moments before pulling out.

“Good boy,” he praised, patting Vlad’s ass possessively, and Vlad shivered at the contact, somehow unable to move despite being freed from the death grip.

“I suppose I should let you make dinner.”

With that, he was gone.

***

Vlad ate dinner standing at his kitchen table. Vlad normally enjoyed cooking, he had never bothered to hire a chef, even back at his Wisconsin mansion, but he just couldn’t put his heart into it. He wound up just making fried egg on toast. Because the longer he spent at the stove, the more he noticed his hands trembling.

Vlad also enjoyed sitting down to savor his meals. He couldn’t do that either. Well, he supposed he technically _could_. Some pain would be involved though.

He wasn’t torn, at least he didn’t think he was, but his spine was stiff, and when he tried to sit it twinged and ached terribly. So he stood.

Vlad sniffled as blood dripped down his nose again. That was the reason he was sniffling. And his eyes burned and his cheeks were wet because an eyelash must have gotten in them. That was certainly it.

Vlad’s chest felt hollow as he lied to himself, and he had a hard time swallowing. Twice he had to gulp water, worrying he would choke, not because he was failing to chew his food, but because his mouth was dry with anxiety and it was making swallowing difficult.

He had wanted to shower first- but he was worried being told to make dinner had been a command, and so he was still dirty, and he could feel the lube and semen slowly leaking out of him, trailing down his leg. He had thrown his pants and underwear back on from where they had fallen in the hall, without the belt this time, but he hadn’t bothered with any other article of clothing. It was probably the most dressed down Vlad had ever been in his kitchen. He would have to retrieve his shoes later, he supposed. And clean the blood drops out of his carpeting. So easy as a ghost, so difficult as a man. It may be easier to just replace all the carpet.

Vlad finished the last bite of food with a swallow of water, and he did his best to ignore the way the glass shook with the trembling of his hand. It wouldn’t do to dwell on it.

A head settled into the nook of Vlad’s neck, and hands smoothed over his taught abdominal muscles, and the glass fell to the floor where it shattered.

“Ready for another round?”


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

_11:30 am, Tuesday, April 17 th, Casper High_

_~Danny~_

Danny and his friends were eating lunch in the cafeteria, but instead of the usual banter they engaged in, there was silence. Each of them had the exact same thing on their mind, but it was dangerous to talk about frankly in the school setting. Hence the silence. Until Danny couldn’t take it anymore.

“I know he’s a terrible person,” Danny said, and Tucker and Sam immediately knew who he was talking about. “But none of his plans ever actually succeeded. And … no one deserves this.”

“Maybe you’re right and it just happened the one time,” Sam said, but the words were hollow.

“Nothing we can do. Seriously dude, nothing,” Tucker repeated more adamantly when Danny shot him a glare.

“Well, we’re going to find out more about that Monkey’s Paw medallion thing,” Danny said aggressively.

“Yeah, but all I’m saying is – don’t do anything reckless.” Tucker’s voice dropped to an almost impossible to hear whisper. “If the Master destroys ghosts, and he’s possessing Vlad, what happens if Vlad touches you?”

“I don’t plan on letting Vlad touch me, Tucker,” Danny replied, equally quiet.

“What if he accidentally bumps into you?” Tucker insisted, “If he comes by your house again for help? Are you going to risk your ghost powers for Vlad’s sake?”

“I think the negative effect would only occur if Danny came into direct contact with the tattoo,” Sam said, matching the hushed tone, “Based on what your parents were saying, it’s just the tattoo made of anti-ectoplasm, not Vlad’s whole body.”

“I hope so,” said Tucker. “Because if Danny gets hurt because of Vlad…”

He trailed off. They all felt the sentiment. They wanted to help Vlad because it was the humane thing to do. It was the right thing to do. But they didn’t want to help him for who he was. Because if Danny was honest with himself, Vlad being powerless and miserable was something he would have wished upon the villain just days ago. Just not at this extreme, and not at this cost.

“Don’t worry Tucker, I’m not crazy. I won’t face an impossible enemy – we need to figure out how to beat the Master first. It’d be great if we could get a book on the Monkey’s Paw, but I’m not sure we’re going to be able to sneak into the ghost zone again,” Danny said quietly.

More silence.

“Doesn’t Vlad have a portal?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“Oh, he has better than that,” Danny said with growing realization. “He also has a library. A ghost related library. And if there’s one thing I know Vlad loves to study, it’s ghost artifacts.”

“Like the monkey’s paw!” Sam said excitedly.

“Exactly,” Danny grinned. But it quickly changed to a frown. “Only problem is, Vlad’s probably there, and I don’t think I can stomach seeing him right now. Plus, if he really can destroy my ghost powers by touching me…” Danny trailed off.

“It sounded like from that book the Master lacks any and all ghost powers,” Sam said. “If we locate his library from the outside and go through the wall, we should be able to avoid detection.”

“Let’s do that immediately after school,” Danny said. “And if there isn’t anything useful, try the ghost portal at my parents’ place, or I could go through Vlad’s alone if that doesn’t seem like a possibility. I guess we should tell our parents we’re visiting the library, it’s technically correct.”

“We should bring your sister too,” Sam said. “She’s probably the most invested in this out of all of us.”

Danny nodded. Lunch continued in silence once more.

***

After school, as promised, Danny hovered nervously outside the fence surrounding the Mayor’s mansion as Danny Phantom. They hadn’t been sure if there was video surveillance, so it was best not to get caught transforming on camera.

“Ready?” Danny asked the assembled group of Sam, Jazz, and Tucker. “If we hear even the slightest noise, we high tail it out of there.”

“Not a problem,” Tucker said readily, at the same time Sam and Jazz nodded.

“Hold hands,” Danny requested, and the four made a link, and Danny quickly turned invisible and intangible. With a deep breath, Danny started to walk toward the Mayor’s Mansion.

The first room they phased into was the kitchen, and Danny was thankful for his intangibility as he walked without sound over the shattered glass on the floor, but intangibility or not, it was a foreboding sight, especially when combined with the dirty plate sitting on the table. Vlad struck him as the sort who kept his house in order.

They silently and carefully walked through walls, searching for books. Danny passed the hole he made in the floor to Plasmius’s lab. There was a sloppy looking ladder leaning against the opening made from scraps of crudely bound together metal, but otherwise it seemed unchanged.

Danny paused as he saw a room with the doors busted inward. He wanted to avoid it entirely, but he could see books beyond them, so it was likely the right place. The four exchanged significant looks, able to see each other through whatever strange ghost physics allowed it, even if the world could not see them. _Danger_ , they warned each other without saying a word.

They crept forward warily, but when they finally reached the doorway, the room was blessedly empty of Vlad or other ghosts. However…

Danny released his hold on the others and they all solidified and became visible. Their gazes were held by a stain, black as pitch, in the middle of the floor.

“That’s not blood, is it?” Tucker asked, swallowing thickly.

“Not human blood,” Jazz replied with a stern frown. “Danny, don’t get near it. If it’s the Master’s blood, it could function like that anti-ectoplasm stuff mom and dad were talking about, the thing that made the ghost zone call the Master One Touch Kill.”

Danny looked at it warily and edged around the room like the stain had the power to leap up and bite him.

“Let’s just… look at these books.”

The four reached for books with promising titles, but their focus was divided, listening for other sounds in the house.

A blessedly short time later –

“Found it!” Sam whispered triumphantly.

“You did?” Jazz asked, quickly shelving her own book.

“Five chapters worth,” Sam said.

“Let’s take it and get out of here,” Tucker said. “All this blood is making me feel sick.”

“Ghost blood affects you too?” Sam asked sympathetically. “Sorry Tuck, I didn’t realize.”

Tucker’s fear of blood wasn’t quite as bad as his fear of hospitals, but it could be crippling. Thankfully, Danny tended to bleed green when in ghost form, and Tucker had a greater tolerance for that. It helped that Danny healed within an hour, so long as he could maintain his ghost shape. Four, if he was forced to switch back to humanity by exhaustion.

“No, not that black stuff,” Tucker shook his head looking ill. “The rest of it.”

“The rest…?” Danny started, but stopped to take greater stock of the room. The smashed in doors. The puddle of blackness. An axe in the corner, caked in the same muck. Then the smaller stuff. A red smear ground into the carpeting near the black puddle. Gravity droplets on top of a closed laptop. Small drips of red and black leading out the door. Danny wished he hadn’t looked. Nothing good had happened here.

“You’re right Tucker,” he said. “We’re getting out of here.”

***

Sam and Tucker decided to go home – their parents hadn’t seen them in a while after all. Danny put the book in his backpack and Jazz drove herself and Danny back to the Fenton residence.

A grim shadow had settled over the pair. Danny hoped there was something groundbreaking in the book, because if there wasn’t…

Jazz opened the front door.

“Mom! Dad! We’re home!” She called.

Danny was absently removing his shoes and readjusting his backpack. He didn’t really expect a response to Jazz’s call, since his parents were most likely in the lab, which meant they’d be unable to hear her.

“Welcome home kids,” Jack said wearily from the kitchen. “Tea? I was making some for Vladdie.”

Danny did a double take. Sitting there at the kitchen table was his mom – and one very exhausted and battered looking Vlad Masters.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

_7:30 am, Tuesday, April 17 th, Mayor’s Mansion_

_~Vlad~_

_I’m going to be late for work._ That was the one thought echoing in Vlad’s head on repeat as he stood in his bathroom, staring vacantly at his reflection. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there, staring. However, he made no move to get into the shower.

_I’m going to be late for work,_ he thought again. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from his reflection.

The reflection that looked back at him was a pale shadow of the man he knew himself to be. White hair, tangled, and in disarray. His left eye sported an impressive shiner, his nose was crooked, and dried blood streaked from it, down his face, into his beard. He looked like something from a horror film.

Bruises on his throat from fingers in addition to the old hickeys which had barely begun to heal. New hickeys all over his chest. Multiple bruises at his hips, some fusing together, but an unfortunate bunch was easily distinguishable, in Vlad’s eye anyway, as finger marks. His legs were tacky with fluids still drying. And not a single wink of sleep had been had. Every time he had started to drift off, the Master would shake him awake and the whole damn thing had started up all over again. Vlad wasn’t even sure how many times he had been raped throughout the night. The lube had run out at some point, and while it ended up not being a problem with the well-used state Vlad had found himself in, he should probably buy more. Loathe as he was to consider that.

The tattoo looked unassuming and normal. Vlad couldn’t look at it for long without feeling physically ill.

_I’m going to be late for work._ This time, he managed to look away from the reflection of his haunted blue eyes. He climbed into the shower as if in a trance. Washed absently, forgetting if he already washed his hair or not. If he did it too frequently, he’d damage it, that’s what shower caps were for. But the thought of not cleaning every inch of himself would not be tolerated so he washed it, perhaps again.

At least he was left alone. For the time being.

Vlad couldn’t even touch his nose for the pain, and allowed the water to wash over his face, enduring the sting, hoping that would take care of most of the blood. He looked like a blasted domestic abuse victim. One of the ones they photograph at the hospital but who returns to her husband anyway.

Vlad’s thoughts weren’t making any sense. It was becoming difficult to stand upright, and his whole body trembled with the effort of staying awake. Images of the Fentons kept flashing through his head. Why hadn’t he tried harder to kill Jack? All he would have had to do at the reunion was give him a spiked drink, and overshadow whatever coroner was assigned and force him to record cause of death as a heart attack, but no, he’d wanted to make Maddie hate the man first. And instead of flying Maddie and Danny to his house, he could have sent them to a real symposium and killed Jack himself while they were gone – making it look like an accident of course – while the real threat was away. If he had just gotten it over with, he and Danny never would have escalated their fights this far. He never would have become mayor. He wouldn’t have modified the Mayor’s Mansion. The Master wouldn’t have had a portal to crawl through. _I wonder if I kill Jack now, would that fix this?_

Somewhere in the back of his head, Vlad knew he was being ridiculous. But about what, he wasn’t sure. Killing Jack now, or killing Jack at all? Vlad had considered killing Jack personally of course, he’d had several opportunities, but at the last moment, he’d remember something. Like Jack cheering him up, saying they didn’t need to be invited to some stupid frat party anyway. Jack holding his hair back as he vomited up the 21 shots he had foolishly drunk on his 21st birthday, and the forced hospital visit that followed. Jack punching the football player, who had deliberately tripped Vlad, so hard, the man got a concussion. Almost six full years spent living together. Foolish sentimentality. If Jack died, he’d be free of all his blasted weak emotions, and he’d be free to claim what he really wanted – power. Power over himself. Power over Maddie. That made sense… right?

Vlad could only vaguely recall what he’d been thinking about when he finally emerged from the shower, sore and aching, the transition wiping the thoughts from his mind. Something about the Fentons he was sure. Maybe he’d stop sending ghost minions to kill Jack for a few months if they managed to save him from the Master. Ok, that probably wasn’t enough. A year? If they could stop the Master, a year of peace seemed like a fair trade. Danny would be elated at least.

Vlad stared at himself in the mirror again. His hair could be easily tamed, and the blood was gone, his beard was clean, but his face still looked like it had been in a fight with a frying pan and lost. Vlad tugged on his clothes, wincing as he had to bend to put on his socks, fingers unsteady at the buttons. But at last he was dressed.

His driver was waiting for him, and he made no comment on either Vlad’s appearance or lateness. Good people were hard to come by. He would have to remember to give the man a raise. What was his name again? Frank? Fred?

Vlad gave whatever his name was a destination, and closed his eyes, breathing shallowly through his mouth, trying to stave off the panic attack he sensed coming on. He just had to get through the day, whatever it brought. Just get through it, and things might get better. The Fentons would find some sort of counteragent to the Master’s bizarre ectoplasm, and it would be over soon. Vlad tried to comfort himself. It wasn’t working well.

Too soon, the limo door was tugged open, and Vlad stumbled out into the morning sun, which really, the weather had no business being cheerful.

Vlad walked a few steps forward and knocked on the door, and slowly his brain caught up with what he was doing. He wasn’t at City Hall.

“I’ll get the door!” A booming voice called from within the house.

The door was thrown open wide. Vlad winced. What was he doing here? He must have subconsciously told his driver to bring him here after thinking about the Fentons….. Butternuts.

“Hey, V-man! You’re back! … uh V-man? You ok?”

Vlad moved to raise his head to look Jack in the eye, to say something, but the motion made him dizzy and instead he found himself stumbling forward bodily into the orange buffoon. He could feel Jack’s body heat behind the anti-ectoplasmic spandex, and his body was so soft and comfortable compared to the Master’s….

“Sorry,” Vlad said, pulling back, trying to get his bearings, but it took an alarming effort to stand upright without collapsing. Vlad went to speak again, to explain himself proper, but found himself choking as vomit rose to the back of his throat, its taste foul. He swallowed thickly.

“Ngh,” Vlad grunted ineffectually.

“You don’t look so hot V-man,” Jack said, quickly wrapping an arm around Vlad’s back and pulling Vlad’s right arm to drape around his shoulders, _to prevent me from falling_ , Vlad supposed.

“What did this to you, buddy? Was it a ghost?”

_No_ , Vlad thought sarcastically _, it was Ricky Mortenson again, football player, tripper of geeks, got mad about his concussion, decided I should suffer the consequences for your actions. That seems to be the way my life goes._

Vlad nodded tersely.

“Maddie!” Jack bellowed. Vlad flinched away from the loud noise. “Vlad’s here and he’s hurt. Give me a hand here!”

They were moving too fast. Vlad wasn’t ready. He was having a hard time keeping his head up. He hadn’t slept in 27 hours.

“Vlad?! What happened?” Maddie’s voice, loud and shrill. And maybe concerned? Concerned. Concern was nice, it meant she did still care about him. Probably. At least a little.

“Ghose,” Vlad wheezed weakly, his knees buckling, and suddenly only Jack was preventing him from falling to the floor. How had he found himself here? In this situation? Relying on other people just to function like one of the dregs of society?

“Ghost?” Maddie asked. Vlad didn’t have the energy to respond. Jack did it for him. “That’s what he said.”

“Let… let me sleep. I just need to sleep,” Vlad mumbled, his voice sounding more desperate to his own ears than he would have liked.

Maddie was positioning herself under his other shoulder, and Vlad found himself being half carried, half dragged to the Fenton living room couch. They were being surprisingly gentle about it though. His three-day-old shoulder injury didn’t even hurt.

They turned their backs to the couch, and the Fentons sat, bringing Vlad with them. The instant they set him down in a seated position, Vlad felt pain shoot up his spine. The couch had little to no padding, old as it was, and he allowed himself to topple over. He had thought to lay down, but this move seemed to have draped him across Jack’s chest instead. Vlad tried to summon the will to ask the lout to move out of the way so he could sleep, but all his energy seemed to have left him.

“Vlad,” Jack said, no nickname this time. “How much sleep did you get?”

“I’ve been up since 4:30 am yesterday,” Vlad responded, blinking blurrily.

“…Why?” Jack prodded.

“…Ghost.” Vlad answered eventually.

“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Maddie said.

Vlad was falling asleep. Half on top of Jack no less. But just before he drifted off, he sat bolt upright, breath caught in his throat, because when he tried to sleep, he came back, and he couldn’t come back, not now, not here-

Vlad hissed at his sudden movement.

“Easy there, V-man,” Jack said. His concern was palpable. Jack wasn’t allowed to be concerned for Vlad, he was an oblivious idiot who ruined lives and happiness, and where was his concern when he pressed that button 20 years ago?

“You can lay back down if you’d like?”

_On you?_ Vlad shook his head. It was weak and pathetic to rely on Jack.

Vlad blinked, and Maddie was back, she was kneeling in front of him, and when had she gotten there?

“Your nose is broken,” Maddie explained.

“I know,” Vlad said emotionlessly.

“It’s really swollen. When did it happen?”

Silence.

“Vlad?”

“I’m thinking…” Vlad said and he was. It was hard to keep it all straight. He easily recalled the manner in which it had been broken and why, but when had that been exactly? Before or after dinner? Yesterday or the day before?

“Yesterday… just after work. I think…. I think that was around, 6:30, maybe?”

“Why didn’t you go to get it fixed immediately?” Jack asked.

“Not now, Jack,” Maddie said, and Vlad was grateful.

“This is a local anesthetic,” Maddie explained, prepping a needle. “It will numb the area, and I can set the bone.”

“No need,” Vlad said. “It can’t hurt worse.”

“It can always hurt worse,” Maddie responded. “Don’t be stubborn.”

Vlad allowed her to inject the substance into his face, wondering vaguely how on earth Maddie got her hands on any sort of anesthetic when neither she nor Jack were doctors. Well. Maddie was a doctor, but last Vlad checked, a doctorate in physics with an emphasis on quantum mechanics did not afford one access to drugs, nor teach you how to use them. He’d have to ask her some time.

“Feel this?” Maddie asked as she palpated his face. Vlad shook his head ever so slightly and wondered idly how many minutes had passed. Time wasn’t cooperating with him.

“Hold still,” she commanded, and Vlad closed his eyes. Despite the medication, it still hurt, but it felt distant and impotent. Like pain in a fever dream. He almost would have preferred to feel it in full force, anything to shake him from his present fugue. Vlad kept his eyes closed as he felt Maddie stick something to his face. Tape to keep his nose in place he supposed. It kind of felt… nice. A friendly touch for a change.

“There,” Maddie said, “All done. You need to sleep before you pass out, but when you wake up, you _will_ explain what the hell is going on here. Are we clear?”

Vlad nodded, and went to tell her his thanks, but instead- “Don’t leave me alone. Please.”

He could tell he had surprised her. He was too tired to take it back.

“I can stay with you until you fall asleep, Vlad,” Jack offered.

Vlad felt discomfited by that. But logically he knew Maddie would never volunteer, and since she wouldn’t-

“Until I wake up.” Vlad said. It was a question as much as it was a demand, and his voice was strained, wavering as he spoke. Damn it all. He was too tired. He would hate himself for this. But he couldn’t be woken up by _him_ , not now, not here, not again.

“Ok,” Jack said. “Until you wake up.”

Vlad felt his whole body sag in relief. The couch wasn’t built for it, but he couldn’t imagine going upstairs. Thankfully the Fentons seemed to understand without being told, and he saw Maddie grab a decorative pillow and place it at the head of the couch, and he let Jack, ham-handed Jack, guide him until he was laying on it. Maddie took off his shoes and draped the throw blanket over him. The couch was more than big enough to accommodate multiple people, even with Vlad laying down, and Jack sat by Vlad’s feet. Vlad found himself pressing the soles of his feet against Jack’s thigh, just to reassure himself he was there, keeping Vlad safe. Based on the Master’s behavior back at the mansion, he had to have been lying when he’d said he’d appear in front of other people, because he was a million times worse when they had a house to themselves. At least, Vlad hoped he’d been lying, because if not…

“I’m here V-man,” Jack said. “Don’t mind me, I’ll just do some needlepoint. And Maddie will be just downstairs in the lab. You can sleep.”

Vlad doubted very much that Jack even had an inkling of the gravity of the situation Vlad had found himself in, but Vlad felt a grudging gratitude towards him nonetheless.

Vlad closed his eyes. A few false starts, and one near panic attack later, he finally managed to achieve a fitful sleep.

****

Vlad awoke to the smell of cooking meat. He blearily opened his eyes. He could see part of the kitchen from where he lay. Maddie seemed to be puttering about the stove. He raised his head slightly trying to be quiet. Jack was still at his feet, doing some kind of needlepoint design.

He let his head fall back and closed his eyes. He no longer felt like he was about to drop dead from fatigue, though it still clung to him oppressively. His whole body ached, somewhere deep in his bones. It had been ages since Vlad had felt this way, but he remembered the feeling well. It was unusual to feel it without the beeping heart monitor to keep him company though.

Vlad figured if he feigned sleep long enough, he may just drift off again. But his stomach had other ideas. It grumbled loudly. Vlad decided he might as well get up for food.

“You awake, Vladdie?” Jack’s voice was far too loud and Vlad scowled. If he hadn’t been, Jack would have changed that.

“I’m awake,” he said, trying to keep the annoyance from his tone. Jack had acquiesced to his childish desire to not be alone while he slept. Though Vlad supposed it wasn’t a childish reason he had made the request.

“Maddie’s making sloppy joes,” Jack said. “It was going to be our dinner, but you looked like you could use something more substantial than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

“Mmm,” Vlad grunted noncommittally and sat up, swinging his feet over the edge of the couch. The room spun a bit, but soon he adjusted to being vertical. He stood up slowly, legs trembling. It was the fatigue, he was sure.

“How long was I out?” Vlad asked as he shuffled his way into the kitchen.

“Dunno. It’s 12:30 now, I think you got here at like, 8ish?”

“Oh, Caramel Cracker!” Vlad suddenly cursed. “I never called City Hall to take a sick day!”

“I figured,” Maddie said. “I called them on your behalf.”

“Oh, that was – very thoughtful of you,” Vlad said surprised. Maddie didn’t turn around.

Vlad sat at the table, uttering a soft grunt as he sat on the unforgiving chair and was reacquainted with sensations he would rather not think about.  He could feel his face contorting into what he imagined was a dreadful grimace, too fatigued to care what the Fentons may think. Vlad propped his head in his hands, leaning against the table, trying to stay awake, head nodding.

Vlad blinked out of his stupor as a sandwich, overflowing with sloppy joes was placed in front of him, as was a cup of tea.

_Such unrefined food_ , Vlad thought. It was a rule that one shouldn’t eat anything liable to make a mess if one wanted to remain in good social graces. The chance for some kind of food related accident was too high. But… it did smell good.

“Could I have a fork?” Vlad asked. One was provided.

For a while all that filled the room was the sound of munching. For pedestrian food, it wasn’t terrible. Jack opened his mouth a few times, as if to say something, but let out a grunt just as many times as Maddie likely kicked him. Vlad observed what was happening wordlessly. As the meal disappeared from his plate, Vlad remembered Maddie’s insistence that he explain everything. And explaining everything would likely be required at some point. If explaining the danger he was in could stop the continual assaults, he’d take it. In an instant. Or at least he would logically. His heart seemed to be having a hard time though.

Too soon their plates were cleared. No more excuses.

“Vlad,” Maddie said, not unkindly, but very businesslike. “You said a ghost did this to you?”

Vlad nodded. And that would have been a good gateway to start the conversation, but Vlad didn’t open his mouth. How much did he need to say? Was it worse to come right out with it, or should he beat around the bush? Imply, or leave no doubt? Should he claim it was just physical violence? But what if the Master actually materialized in front of them, and called Vlad out at some point? Wouldn’t that be far more humiliating? Would he do that?

“Was it the Master? The one who gave you that tattoo?”

A nod. Vlad couldn’t look up at her, nor at Jack. The silence stretched on, as did Vlad’s anxiety. He couldn’t do this after all.

“Thanks for the food,” Vlad said. “I really should be going.”

Vlad stood up, slightly unsteady on his feet.

“Don’t you dare do this to us, not again,” Maddie snarled, and Vlad was shocked at the venom he heard there.

“You push us all away, then blame us for complying! Not this time! This time, you are going to face your problems, and we are going to face them with you!”

Vlad felt his face flush. This is what he loved about Maddie. He had been attracted to her the first time he saw her, but this had only made his affection grow. Her take-charge attitude. When she got like that, he felt like he just had to have her, and if she submitted to him, he was more powerful as a consequence, and the idea was exhilarating. And wasn’t that just like The Master? Damnit. These comparisons were not good for his mental health.

Still - attractive, take-charge attitude or not, he couldn’t let that statement stand.

“I pushed _Jack_ away after the accident, not _you_!”

“You threw pudding at us!”

“I threw it at Jack!”

“At _us_ , Vlad.”

“Fine! It was at you both! You know why? Because you didn’t wait a moment, the instant I was out of the picture, the two of you were all over each other! Jack knew EXACTLY how I felt about you, and he came to visit and rub it in my face!”

A stark silence reigned and Vlad’s mind caught up with his words.

 “…. Fuck.”

Vlad actually swore that time, though the word came out a whisper. He hadn’t meant to say any of that. It had been bubbling at the surface of his mind for years, always in his thoughts. And now it was out there. He must have been more emotionally run down than he had realized. What now? Maddie knew of his affections already, and his anger toward Jack, but Jack….

“V-man, Maddie and I didn’t start dating until two months after the accident.”

“That’s just not true,” Vlad said angrily, fists clenched at his side. “I saw you, you were holding hands like some lovesick-“

“YOU NEARLY DIED!” Maddie roared, and Vlad flinched back, half raising his hands as she pounded the table. “You ran away after you got struck, and Jack found you unconscious in your apartment! We rushed you to the hospital and your heart stopped. It stopped THREE TIMES, Vlad! We’d watched you fight for life, watched you get zapped with those damn paddles, and it was our fault! _Of course_ we were holding hands, we were best friends watching a best friend die! We leave to get lunch, we come back, we hear you’re awake, and you start screaming abuse at us!”

Maddie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Vlad’s mind was spinning.

“Jack wanted to go back you know, to visit you again,” she said. “I wouldn’t allow it, not until you apologized. You had our numbers. You could have called. We left you a card instead, said we’d be there when you needed us, when you’d calmed down.”

Vlad had ripped it up without reading it.

“It was foolish,” Maddie continued, “I realize that now. You weren’t in your right mind, we should have given you another chance, should have forgiven you. Six years of friendship was worth more than that. But the whole situation - the stress of it, of Jack’s suspension, of the student loans, of the government questions, our grants being taken away, reviews by the school board, discussions of criminal charges – we found ourselves pushed away from you, and it brought Jack and I together, it did. But even if it hadn’t Vlad, you can’t keep thinking you would have had a chance if not for Jack, because I’d loved Jack for years as more than a friend, the accident just put it over the edge. And NOW-“ Maddie roared. “NOW, you are going to sit yourself down on that couch, and we are going to communicate, God damn it! Sit- down!”

Vlad automatically scrambled to comply. Maddie’s words buzzed around his head, eluding comprehension. Too soon, he was seated in the couch. Maddie took the armchair, and Jack grabbed a kitchen chair so he could be sat opposite Vlad as well. Jack didn’t seem to be surprised at Maddie’s earlier outburst and had made no move to correct it. Though as Vlad reviewed the conversation in his head, he realized Jack already knew he blamed him for the accident. The only difference now was Jack had thought he’d been forgiven, and Vlad had showed he had not. Jack may have realized from that conversation Vlad still had feelings for Maddie, but he did not know the depth of them, nor the did he realize just _how much_ Vlad hated and resented him. Vlad wasn’t sure why he was grateful for that.

“Sorry for shouting,” Maddie apologized, her face flushed in slight sheepishness. She recovered quickly though. “Now,” she said, clearing her throat, “Care to tell us what’s been going on since you left before the crack of dawn yesterday, that warrants all these injuries?”

Vlad opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth had gone dry. Where to begin? Did he say the incidents escalated only yesterday, or admit to how it was from the beginning? It was hard to swallow, there was no saliva in his mouth and the motion was useless.

Vlad nervously undid his bowtie, and the top two buttons of his shirt, without really thinking about it, and he finally managed to swallow, to breathe. He looked down at his lap and tried to empty his head. He couldn’t think too much about it. He had already aired his dirty laundry about the accident. What was a little more confiding? The problem was, he wasn’t sure how he could explain that the ghost could not levitate or fly, without explaining how he managed to reach Vlad in the first place. It would probably be bad to lie and make it sound like the ghost could summon a ghost portal at will, especially since such a thing could cause Jack and Maddie to assume the ghost would get away if they managed to separate and attack it. What to say?

“I design a good portion of the ghost weaponry Vladco manufactures you know,” Vlad started slowly. “I actually still conduct ghost research. I’m as bad as I was in college – I still feel a fool for admitting my hobby. I built my own portal off of our prototype twelve years ago.”

“But we only completed it last year!” Jack shouted.

“We only resumed our portal research a few years ago, dear,” Maddie said by way of soothing Jack.

“I worked almost non-stop during my hospitalization to perfect it, it was all I had to do besides study,” Vlad explained. He was skirting dangerously close to the truth. Hell, it _was_ the truth, just less the whole ghost powers thing.

“Point being, I constructed another one in the Mayor’s Mansion so I could do research locally. The Master came through that. I had forgotten to lock it,” Vlad said. _And your son goaded it into attacking._

 A pause. A breath.

“The ghost can only walk. He can’t fly. He can’t turn intangible. But every weapon I used against him was absorbed. He acted very human. I kicked at him. That seemed to do something, but he recovered quickly. There was nothing I could do to stop him.”

How to say it? _How_? He could practically sense the tension in the air, the held breaths. Should he just come right out with it? Vlad wasn’t sure what to even call the assault. Every word he thought of seemed either too harsh, misleading, or vague. Though he supposed that word…

“He assaulted me,” Vlad tried. A slight intake of breath from Maddie, but it probably wasn’t clear enough. Vlad hated himself, but he tacked on one more word. “Sexually. And don’t interrupt me, or I’ll just shut up entirely.”

It was true. If his momentum was halted, it would be impossible to continue. Jack made some kind of noise but Maddie seemed to silence him again. Vlad didn’t dare look up.

“I thought it was over, but I had this – this- this _tattoo_ , the one you’ve been studying. And he came back that night. Not to do anything, just to hang onto me while I tried to sleep. And I realized it wasn’t over.”

“So I came here. Except the first time I was alone in the bathroom, I watched the tattoo disappear and _he_ appeared again. He assaulted me again. Let’s just assume when I say that word, the word ‘sexually’ should be implied.”

Vlad went silent. Brooding. He didn’t need to detail every incident, surely. But, maybe, if they knew how urgent a problem this was…

“It’s a pretty constant thing,” he admitted. “He assaulted me again that night. He also dislocated my shoulder for biting him. Which he fixed. The bite healed in mere seconds. The following evening it was more of the same, except I didn’t fight. I’d learned my lesson. Though I suppose by not fighting, he trusted me enough to walk away from him a bit, and I learned he can only repossess my body when in actual physical contact with me. Problem was he left these darn hickeys…”

Vlad winced, rubbing his exposed neck. They could see them well enough. Plus the fingerprints.

“I didn’t want to explain them, so I decided to keep away. That, and the Master keeps threatening to involve you somehow, and occasionally has suggested either making you watch, or in one case suggested I should assault you as he is assaulting me. Or assault Maddie anyway. And I’m not sure how serious he was.”

“But…” Vlad took a deep breath. “Being alone… alone with him, in the mansion… he wouldn’t leave me alone. He got overconfident. Let me run. I tried to behead him with a damn ornamental axe,” and he was swearing again, he needed to stop that, gentlemen don’t swear, “but it failed. I cut his jugular, I’m sure of it. His anatomy is bizarrely human. He bled black all over the place, but the cut sealed within a minute. He broke my nose. Strangled me to make me let go of my weapon. And spent the rest of the evening and literally the whole night repeatedly assaulting me. Ghosts don’t need to sleep, and apparently their _stamina_ is infinite too.”

There was relative silence as Vlad breathed deep, trying to keep it together. There was just one more thing, and they needed to understand, it was the most important part.

“So… so I came back here as soon as he left me alone. He can hear everything I say. I don’t think he can read my mind, but everything you say in front of me – you can assume it’s being monitored. If you discover how to kill him – which he thinks is amusing, and impossible, by the way – and you tell me – I’d hate to think what he’d do. You could be in danger as well. I don’t know how serious he was about involving you, and DAMN IT ALL, if I could push him off on one of you forever I would, I would in a heartbeat, I would-“

Vlad’s voice caught in his throat. He couldn’t possibly say any more, but he didn’t really have anything else to say. He was crying, silent tears trickling down his face. When had he started doing that? He was doing it far too often lately.

A chair creaked. Jack was sitting next to him, rubbing his back. Vlad sobbed audibly at that, unable to help it, because he’d just said-

“It’s unfair, Vlad, to ask for anyone to endure something like that without wishing it would go away, even at the expense of other people. You’re only human,” Jack comforted.

Vlad cried harder at that because Jack didn’t understand. Vlad cared for no one. He would not hesitate to throw someone under the bus to save his own skin, even Maddie if he was honest with himself, but Jack especially, he would not hesitate. Jack couldn’t possibly understand that about Vlad, because if he understood, he wouldn’t care about him. Jack always had been daft, too soft for his own good. People were pawns to be used, friends were worthless, false, sentimental things-

Except Vlad desperately needed his friends, as pathetic as that was, and Jack and Maddie were all he had. Their friendship had felt genuine at some point, Vlad could recall a time he had been glad of their company, a time when he did things because they were fun, and not because they served some grand purpose. It was a weakness, he knew, illogical, for they had betrayed him before – _had they really?_ – and they may very well betray him again. Jack’s touch wasn’t making his skin crawl, unlike the Master’s did. Vlad found himself feeling strangely relieved- it was such a relief to voice all that he’d endured, such a relief to feel the touch of someone who wasn’t openly hostile, and Vlad realized in that moment no one really touched him in this friendly, comforting manner except Jack, no one ever had. The last time Jack had rubbed his back, Vlad had been getting over-emotional about a vindictive professor, for goodness sake! And Vlad had angrily pushed Jack away then, too proud to be comforted. Vlad wasn’t pushing now.

They had been friends once, Jack, Maddie and him. They truly had. Maybe it wasn’t the accident that had ruined it all. Maybe Vlad’s feelings for Maddie, and his own hubris had done that. His pride would be the death of him. What did he want from the Fentons now? From Maddie? From Jack? A woman to covet, an enemy to vanquish, or… or did he want what they’d had in their early years of college, that simple unassuming friendship held together by genuine affection instead of power and money? Think…. Think….

_Don’t think, do_ , Vlad’s innermost voice demanded, and he did what felt right, and turned his body toward Jack, unseeing, and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in Jack’s shoulder as the tears continued to come. Then the fatigue set in, so deep in his bones, Vlad couldn’t take it, and he found himself slipping away into sleep once more.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_1:00 pm, Tuesday, April 17 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie felt numb as she watched Vlad come apart, sobbing into her husband’s shoulder. Jack looked notably upset, tears in his eyes too as he rubbed Vlad’s back silently. She had realized Vlad had endured something terrible the instant she saw him at the front door, but _this_? She hadn’t expected _this_.

The whole situation was surreal. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Vlad cry. She remembered the reserved man from college, carefully measuring his words, his brief bursts of raw temper, before bringing himself into check. Maddie hadn’t liked him much at first. He was a bit clingy for one thing. Tried to micromanage everything they did, got irrationally angry when a social outing didn’t go exactly according to plan, or deviated from the strict schedule he’d envisioned. Jack had mellowed him, unwound him. With Jack’s encouragement, Vlad slowly learned allow some spontaneity, and Vlad did his best to keep Jack’s impulsiveness in check. Eventually, they formed a cohesive trio, uniting in their research (though Vlad somewhat reluctantly, she recalled,) of the potential of a ghost dimension, into ectoplasm, though it wasn’t anything the University taught, and their efforts were often scorned.

Maddie remembered the three of them sprawled on a blanket under the stars, watching the Independence Day fireworks while Jack had ranted and enthused about the unique structure of ectoplasm and how it seemed to function as a chemical, despite having clear biological components. Maddie had contributed her own theories about using accelerated photons to potentially bend the fabric of the human world so that maybe, just maybe, a different dimension could be viewed. They had completely different majors and focuses, and Jack had wanted so desperately for them to work together he asked to read her physics textbook though he sucked at math. Maddie had been about to ask Vlad if he would be willing to help design the physical structure needed for their experiments when she noticed he had fallen fast asleep on his back, under the fireworks, the soft smile on his face just barely visible in the multicolored light.

Where had that time gone?

There was no trace of it here, and not for the first time, Maddie regretted discouraging Jack from making amends with Vlad, but she had been just so… so hurt… at the way he had screamed at them, acting like he had always suspected they would turn on him, thinking Jack was personally out to get him. Diminishing their friendship down to nothing, as if it had been a ruse Vlad had simply been playing along with. Maddie didn’t think she would be incorrect if she said Vlad distinctly lacked an interest in or empathy for other people, but she had believed, at least before the accident, that he had made an exception for her and Jack. And maybe he had, but it had been tenuous at best. And now?

While Maddie couldn’t completely shake the idea that Vlad would always put his own self interest and desires before those of others, there was no doubt he was hurting now. Maddie would have felt compelled to help anybody in his situation, really – she was a ghost hunter. Her emotions for ghosts had shifted from fascination to hatred as they continually attacked her home. A rapist ghost? The very thought made her blood boil. But the fact that it was Vlad specifically who was affected? Maddie was having a hard time thinking straight. She was still seeing that peaceful smiling face under the fireworks.

Maddie noticed Vlad was gradually going quiet, and as she watched his body went slack, Jack’s hands stilled, and Maddie realized Vlad had managed to cry himself to sleep on Jack’s shoulder. He must have been truly exhausted, the position hardly looked comfortable.

Maddie and Jack made eye contact, and moved in an unspoken agreement, each understanding what should be done. In no time at all, Jack had his back to the arm of the couch, legs on the cushions as he sat, Vlad propped up in a likewise seated position to Jack’s side, leaned back against Jack’s chest. Maddie lightly placed the blanket over them both, and Jack rested his hands atop the blankets, and the pair ended up looking like a giant human cocoon.

Vlad had always been relatively good at falling asleep quickly and deeply, but even though he slept, Maddie could see the tension in his brow, the frown tugging at his lips, and at this distance his bruises shown starkly. His nose was mostly covered in tape but his black eye, and the assortment of mottled bruises on his neck were easily visible.

_And to think, while we slept, Vlad was…._

Maddie grit her teeth in determination. There was nothing she could do to erase what had already transpired, but by God, she would make sure that filthy, sorry excuse of ectoplasm never touched Vlad, or anyone else, again.

“I’m going to go shopping, we need more food in this house,” Maddie whispered. “Will you be alright with him?”

Jack nodded, and Maddie smiled at him, kissing his forehead as she moved to leave.

What was Vlad’s favorite food again? She tried to remember. Come to think of it, they had mostly talked about school and ghosts, and while she and Jack had regularly brought information about themselves into conversation voluntarily, Vlad never did unless directly asked, and even then he tended to say as little as possible. But Vlad had cooked for them on many occasions, she remembered. She remembered the apartment Jack and Vlad had gotten together in their junior year of their Bachelor’s degree, and Jack pouting when he said Vlad had forbidden him from touching the stove. Maddie smiled. She couldn’t remember a food preference, but Vlad had made a lot of chicken-based dishes, so that was likely a safe bet. And she remembered the way he reacted every time she had brought gingersnap cookies – like he was only just managing to prevent himself from devouring the lot.

Making Vlad’s favorite foods was the least she could do. It wouldn’t fix things, but it should bring some comfort. The shipment of radioactive isotopes had arrived as well. Maddie would unpackage it and attack that blasted anti-ectoplasm with vigor. This was one ghost she would definitely succeed in ripping apart molecule by molecule.

***

_1:35 pm, Tuesday, April 17 th, Fenton Works_

_~Jack~_

Jack was in deep thought, and that wasn’t a state he particularly liked being in. It was far easier just to act. However, there wasn’t much he could do with another human body draped on top of his. He didn’t even want to resume his needlepoint – Vlad may be a deep sleeper, but unnecessary jostling should still probably be avoided.

Jack was feeling guilty. Not about Vlad’s current situation – there was nothing he could have done to prevent it, and if Maddie hadn’t picked up on anything amiss, Jack was sure he couldn’t have either – no, Jack Fenton felt guilty for allowing himself to forget.

Jack was in constant motion. He disliked dwelling on anything and lived for the moment. He had meant to visit Vlad in the hospital again, regardless of what Maddie had advised him. But then he’d been suspended, there had been a criminal investigation, keeping up his grades, and then his blossoming relationship with Maddie…. Jack had felt guilty about that. Vlad had told him he loved her. Jack had told him to go for it. But Vlad had been so slow about the whole thing – the accident had been nearly 6 months after Vlad’s confession to Jack. Jack had told himself Vlad had lost interest, though he didn’t believe it at the time.

And then… he’d forgotten. Somewhere, sometime, Jack had decided that Vlad would approach him when he was ready to forgive him. They were attending the same university after all, and Jack had been sure he would see Vlad eventually. Except he hadn’t seen him, just heard about him, whispers in the halls, students wondering if Vlad would sue – sue the university. Sue Jack. Eventually Jack had gotten his masters degree, then started working to support his wife’s continuing study to get a doctorate degree, as well as taking on additional responsibilities when Jazz was born, and at some point, Vlad had faded from his mind almost entirely. The invitation to the 20th reunion for the Masters Graduates of 1986 had been the first time Jack had thought about Vlad in years.

Jack assumed he had been invited because he had been forgiven. It was, after all, what he had decided Vlad would eventually do. But Vlad was still angry, he’d made that plain, and Jack had noticed Maddie’s insinuation that Vlad had thought he could be with her if not for the accident. The idea that his one-time best friend had feelings for his wife made Jack a bit uncomfortable. He was sure Maddie would and had refused, and one couldn’t help the whims of the human heart but… really? It seemed highly unhealthy. Maddie had laid down the law so Vlad should know it was unacceptable, and now there were no excuses, but Jack would have to confront Vlad to make sure he understood.

Jack wondered if it was possible to have his friendship with Vlad go back to the way it had been. And could it be done without Vlad hitting on his wife? Jack was nothing if not an optimist, so he figured it had to be possible to at least achieve a positive approximation of what they once had. If Vlad was willing to forgive Jack for his multiple failures as a friend, Jack could forgive Vlad for his feelings toward Maddie – assuming Vlad refocused on a healthier love interest of course. And if Vlad had a ghost portal, they could knowledge share! It would be great to get another perspective, he and Maddie still hadn’t had much success in ridding the town of Danny Phantom.

Jack found it hard to contain his sudden enthusiasm. Vladco came out with some pretty cool stuff! Maybe Jack couldn’t defeat the ghost kid on his own, but together? Vlad was one of the most intelligent people Jack knew, next to his wife. If they teamed up they would be unstoppable!

It took far too much self-control for Jack to stop himself from shaking Vlad awake to discuss the advancements of ghost weaponry. Now was neither the time or the place. But Jack was just so _bored_ …

Something shifted. Jack barely had time to look up before a large pale hand covered his mouth. Jack’s eyes went wide as his gaze met inhuman black pools of malice.

_Ghost!_

However, a deep-seated fear took root in Jack’s gut and his shout died in the back of his throat as he took in the pale countenance, the pointed ears, the wild back hair, the ripped muscular chest, and he realized immediately that this had to be the Master, who Vlad talked about, the ghost who _raped him_ – and he was just casually standing there!

“Hush now, fat one, wouldn’t want to wake your friend,” the ghost said in a soft purr, and once again Jack felt his voice die. Vlad shifted slightly against Jack and let out a whimper as though the voice had permeated his dreams. The hand was removed from Jack’s mouth, and Jack spoke against his better judgment. He couldn’t be bothered to control himself in the presence of this fiend.

“I won’t let you touch him,” Jack growled with a viciousness he didn’t even realize he’d had in him.

“Nice to meet you too,” the ghost smirked, completely disregarding Jack’s statement. “Today has been just as entertaining as I had hoped. I’d rather my pet not shatter, so I see no harm in you having him to yourself for today. But starting tonight? He’s mine, to do with as I please. I advise you not to attempt to stop me, unless, of course, you wish to participate in my little game ahead of schedule? That could be arranged.”

Jack flinched as the ghost reached out towards him, and Jack lashed out with his free hand to grab the Master’s and push it away. The hand, though cold, was solid and firm, and very human. Jack remembered the statement about needing conventional weapons. Jack had thought he would be able to physically overpower the ghost with Vlad’s help, but upon seeing his girth, perhaps that was more of a risky gamble than he had hoped. But still, no spook spoke like that to Jack Fenton!

“Do your worst, I’ll rip you apart long before you get near me,” Jack snarled, instinctively holding Vlad tighter to his chest as the white-haired man let out a whimper. Still sleeping somehow.

“Hmmm. What a risk taker you are. Are you sure you should be making such boasts? Especially with two children in this house.”

Jack’s felt his blood turn cold and he was overwhelmed with a suffocating fear as he stared into those black, amused eyes.

“You leave my kids alone,” Jack said, and his voice was far more subdued. The ghost grinned impishly.

“I can’t promise you that. I’m impulsive by nature, and if they show up at an inopportune moment? I’m curious whether Vlad would sacrifice himself on their behalf, or allow me to have my way with them if it gave him a reprieve?”

Jack… wasn’t sure what Vlad would do. Jack knew what he would do, but they were his kids, and that was an unfair decision to force Vlad to make. And so…

“You said he’s yours starting tonight,” Jack said, his lip curling with distaste. “Define tonight.”

“Oh, 11pm? That should work. Now if you don’t mind, I did promise you the day with him so-“

The ghost reached out again, and before Jack could bat the hand away, he touched Vlad’s shoulder and the ghost disappeared faster than Jack could blink. Jack was a mixture of relieved and furious. Their next encounter _had_ to go better than that.

“I’ll keep you safe V-man, no spook gets the better of Jack Fenton,” Jack said softly to the sleeping man. He just hoped it was a promise he’d be able to keep.

 

_2:35 pm, Tuesday, April 17 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie opened the front door to Fenton Works, arms laden with groceries. Her husband and Vlad were still where she left them, though the latter stirred slightly at the sound of the door opening.

“I’m back,” she said automatically, moving to put the groceries away.

“Hey, Maddie,” Jack rumbled softly.

“Still sleeping?” Maddie asked him.

“Like a rock. It’s kind of amazing.”

“Well he has been through a lot,” Maddie said. “I have more groceries in the car. Once I’ve finished unloading, I want to get started in the lab with those –“

Jack shook his head rapidly and Maddie paused. “Dear?”

“That spook is listening,” Jack snarled. “Even while Vlad sleeps he listens.”

Maddie’s gut churned at the implications. Vlad had thought the ghost could see what he saw, hear what he heard, but while sleeping? She supposed it was a possibility.

“Alright. We won’t discuss our progress, or lack thereof, anywhere near Vlad,” she said. “Are you alright to stay up here with him while I work?”

“Of course,” Jack answered.

“Fetch me when he wakes up,” Maddie requested.

As Maddie unpacked she realized just how difficult this would be. Vlad needed a babysitter to prevent continued attacks, and yet if they stayed with him, their speed and efficacy in the lab was strongly reduced. Nothing to be done for it, but the balancing act made Maddie nervous.

Worse, if Vlad was right and the ghost made good on his threats to involve the Fentons? Maddie frowned. All of the weapons she manufactured were designed to pose minimal threat to humans. That was just common sense with how poorly Jack aimed. But Maddie knew her way around weapons design. She was sure she had enough materials to make a stun gun. Perhaps that would be her first order of business. That ghost would wish he had never come to Amity Park.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

_4:03 pm, Tuesday, April 17 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad woke slowly, blinking awake. He felt a warm body beneath him but that fact didn’t inspire fear for a change. Because it was Jack. Saltwater Taffy, he’d made a fool of himself. But while Vlad felt embarrassed he also felt pleasantly warm. Safe. Knowing his luck, it wouldn’t last, but it was nice to at least have an illusion of safety, for however long he could maintain it.

“Morning, Vladdie,” Jack said and Vlad could feel his chest vibrate with the words. It was a strangely intimate sensation. Vlad wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“Where’s Maddie?” Vlad asked, casting his gaze about.

“In the lab. And the kids texted, they’re at the library. Tea? We have Earl Grey.”

“Yes, thank you,” Vlad said, removing the blanket and disentangling himself from Jack. A small part of him immediately missed the friendly contact.

Jack bustled over to the top of the stairs to the lab and hollered down, “Maddie! Vlad’s awake!” and without another word he moved to the kitchen and put the kettle on. Vlad sat down at the kitchen table feeling somewhat numb. Of all the reactions to the explanation of his plight, he hardly expected this domestic normalcy. It would have been intolerable if Jack and Maddie had been grief riddled wrecks, unable to look him in the eye, or worse, treated him with disgust, but still, something about this friendliness was disconcerting. It was so… normal.

Maddie appeared at the top of the stairs and wandered over to the kitchen table.

“Tea?” She asked.

“Yup,” Jack said. “Figured we’d need it.”

“Vlad,” Maddie said, and when her eyes met his Vlad was awestruck at the openness he saw there. “Rest assured, we will not stop until we have found a way to remove, or otherwise destroy this ghost, this _Master_ ,” she spat the last word, “but we’ll be unable to discuss our progress with you. It’s best if you’re not in the lab either I think. Otherwise, it will be hard to take him off guard.”

“That makes sense,” Vlad acquiesced. It did make sense, and that was the best decision, but he still didn’t like it. “But please don’t hesitate to ask me more about the ghost, I cannot afford to sit and wait.” Vlad hoped he wouldn’t regret that invitation. But he couldn’t take another day like yesterday, his body would give out. He still felt the lingering effects of fatigue from his all-night stint.

Vlad heard the front door open.

 “Mom! Dad! We’re home!” Jazz’s voice echoed from the doorway. Vlad’s stomach clenched. Jack and Maddie aside, the Fenton children could not be permitted to find out about his plight. Though his bruises told enough of a story he was sure. Doubtless, letting Jack and Maddie know what was going on had been the right choice – now that they knew, it would be easier to stay close to them, and their presence seemed to somewhat deter the Master; they had greater motivation to investigate the anti-ectoplasm, and, though Vlad shuddered to think of it, they had the best chance of physically overpowering the Master if it should come to that. Out of all the people Vlad knew, asking Jack and Maddie for help had definitely made the most sense. But Jazz and Danny complicated things.

 “Welcome home kids,” Jack said, sounding somewhat exhausted. “Tea? I was making some for Vladdie.”

The looks they were giving him…

“Uh, hey Vlad,” Danny said nervously. “What happened to your nose?”

Vlad internally sighed. He’d already told Danny the ghost likely lived in his tattoo and had expressed an interest in tormenting him. It seemed logical for them to conclude the Master had inflicted the damage. Or maybe it was logical only to Vlad? He hadn’t told them that the Master had emerged from the tattoo before, only that he _suspected_. He hoped his restriction of information hadn’t stopped Danny from interrogating ghosts to see if anyone knew how to hurt the Master. Vlad hoped Danny’s hero complex had compelled him to help, his sister had seemed willing enough, but what if he hadn’t done anything? Thought Vlad deserved it? And it would be a fair thought given that Danny had no idea what exactly the Master wanted, and Vlad had certainly gone out of his way to make the boy’s life miserable. Jack and Maddie were only two people, he needed all the help he could get, perhaps a bit of honesty…

“That Master ghost I was talking to you about,” Vlad said, and he tried to affect a dismissive air. “He showed up again and I tried to attack him. He didn’t take it very well.”

Vlad saw Maddie’s hands jump a bit from where she gripped her empty mug. Ah. She didn’t seem to want them to know. That suited Vlad just fine.

“It looks like he tried to strangle you too?” Jazz asked, and there was something about the way she looked at him that gave Vlad the distinct impression that she somehow _knew_. He swallowed. He didn’t want that to be the case, but if it was, he needed to stop her line of questioning.

“Your parents know all the gory details. _All_ of them,” he looked at her meaningfully. “I appreciate your concern.”

Jack poured tea for the five of them.

“How was school?” Maddie asked brightly, but Vlad detected some strain in her tone. He tuned out Jazz as she launched into some long-winded story. Danny was staring at him. His eyes seemed to almost look through him. Vlad felt distinctly uncomfortable. Come to think of it, with the Master’s escalating behavior, and his anti-ghost capabilities, could Danny be considered safe in this household? Vlad knew the Master’s ire was unlikely to shift off of him any time soon, but the ghost’s repeated suggestions to bring others in on Vlad’s trauma were deeply troubling. He should probably figure out a way to keep them safe….

“So, kids,” Jack said, finishing the last of his tea. “We’ve got a dangerous ghost haunting Vladdie. Good news is, it can’t phase through walls. Bad news is, it’s built like a tank and can probably knock down walls. Until further notice, this house cannot be considered safe. I don’t suppose any of your friends will let you stay for a while? At least until I can make sure the Fenton Ops Center is impenetrable.”

Vlad did a double take. He hadn’t expected Jack to be able to think far enough ahead to come to that conclusion.

Neither, apparently, had Maddie.

“Jack? It sounded like it was mostly you and I that were in danger,” She asked tentatively.

“Apparently we’re all in danger,” Jack answered.

“In danger from what?” Danny asked. Vlad shot him a look. Surely it was obvious to the boy that the Master was dangerous given Vlad’s bruises? What was the point of the question?

“That ghost paid me a little visit while Vladdie was taking a nap,” Jack said. Vlad felt lightheaded. The Master had materialized… while he was sleeping? What had he done to Jack? _And why do I care so much?_

“He did?!” Maddie asked, jumping to her feet. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I didn’t want to wake Vladdie up, I figured you might shout,” Jack said, looking a little guilty. “And Vlad only just woke up a few minutes ago. Kids,” Jack said, refocusing his attention. “If you can’t stay with friends we’ll pay to rent a hotel room until we can straighten this out. But Vlad stays here. This ghost is going to have to take the fight to our turf.”

Everyone looked shocked.

“Did he… say anything else?” Vlad hedged, not really wanting to know, but desperately needing to, and he hoped Jack could censor himself enough in front of the larger audience.

“The bit you may care about is he’s promised to leave you alone until at least 11 p.m.”

Vlad let out a shuddering breath at that, simultaneously relieved and terrified. Relieved because he was likely going to be safe until then, terrified because there was a _then_ at all.

“He ordered me to make sure you were alone at that time, by the way. But that’s not going to happen. I’m going to keep you safe.”

“…Jack, not that I don’t appreciate it, but doing that may have dire consequen-“

“I’m aware of the risks,” Jack interrupted quickly. “He threatened exactly what you suspect. But I’m not letting him hurt you again.” Jack puffed up his chest.

_You fool_ , Vlad thought. _And you are volunteering to help me anyway?_

A lump lodged at the back of Vlad’s throat. Cheese Whiz, he was far too emotional. But especially painful was the thought that he would never take that risk for Jack…. He wouldn’t do it for anyone; maybe Maddie, but most likely not. He supposed he’d saved Danny but that had been mostly impulse. Vlad’s fate had likely been sealed regardless, so there had been no harm in stopping Danny from sharing it. Besides, there was a distinct difference between a spur of the moment decision and a calculated one.

“Um, kids, it’s best to listen to your father,” Maddie said. “Try to make arrangements but let us know immediately if you can’t. I’ll call you down when it’s time for dinner.

Danny and Jazz looked a bit shell shocked, but they finished their tea and headed up the stairs.

Vlad startled a bit as he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder. It had been Maddie, not Jack, and that surprised him even more.

“It’s OK,” she said. “Jack’s right, we’ll figure something out. It’s a calculated risk.”

Vlad frowned. He hated himself for having to say this, but their dual defiance felt dangerous. “I’m obligated to do my best to keep you away from me closer to 11 o’clock. Don’t forget now, we have a listener. You can’t go about openly defying his orders in front of him. But if I do have until then… mind if I go back to my manor to get some changes of clothes? If I’m going to be staying here, one suit won’t cut it.”

“I’ll go with you, V-man,” Jack said. “I can help you pack.”

Vlad wanted to decline. But then he remembered what had happened the last time he had been alone in his mansion, and he resisted the urge.

“Alright. By the way… how do you feel about cats?”

***

It was strange, Vlad thought, how the mansion that had served as his recent home suddenly inspired fear. Jack had driven them there in the ‘Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle’. His driving alone had been enough to knock a few more years off of Vlad’s life. He wondered if Jack could be convinced to let him drive back – though best not, Vlad hadn’t driven anything besides a golf cart in over a decade. Being rich and having ghost powers had their perks.

The Mansion’s door opened easily enough, but the air was somehow oppressive.

“With me,” Vlad ordered as he began walking toward the staircase at the center of the manor.

“Hey, Vlad? I just want to say I’m sorry,” Jack said quietly.

Urgh. This was not the time for this.

“I forgive you,” Vlad responded, insincerely.

“Forgive me for what?” Jack asked.

“…What?”

“I apologized but I didn’t specify what for. What are you forgiving me for?”

“Jack…”

“It seems I’ve done you a lot of wrong Vladdie. I’m sorry for messing up the ghost portal calculations and not having Maddie double check them. I’m sorry for pressing the on switch before making sure the portal was clear. I’m sorry for not trying to work things out after we fought at the hospital. I’m sorry for allowing myself to forget you. And I’m sorry for not being the kind of friend who you felt comfortable with going to immediately when this Master showed up.”

Vlad blinked a bit at the volley of statements, but suddenly Jack’s tone changed. “I am sorry you missed your opportunity to confess to Maddie, but I am not sorry – not one bit – for falling in love with her and marrying her. I need you to understand. I know I’m asking for a lot from you – for all this forgiveness – but if we want to stay friends Vlad, we can’t let Maddie come between us. You cannot go about flirting with my wife – she’s made it perfectly clear what her decision was. Understand?”

Jack’s eyes were more serious than Vlad had seen them. They came to a stop halfway up the stairs.

“You expect me to forgive you for everything just like that? You think it’s that easy?”

“We can work on it,” Jack growled. “You can choose to never forgive me, I realize I’ve done a lot of things I can’t take back. All I ask is that you don’t hurt Maddie.”

“I would never hurt Maddie,” Vlad said adamantly.

“I’m sure you think that. But tell me – just how did she know you still have feelings for her? And why has she been so angry at you for the past year? She didn’t get this way until long after the reunion. What did you do?”

Vlad felt his ears get hot.

“I just-“

“You came onto her, didn’t you? I’m not sure when,” Jack cut Vlad off, “But you did. And she said no. And you’re still trying it aren’t you?”

Vlad was speechless. Jack had never looked so serious. His eyes were hard.

“Jack, I haven’t said anything to her recently, I swear.”

Jack eyed him darkly, and Vlad had the strange feeling he could see straight through him. Vlad found himself suddenly realizing that without his powers, Jack Fenton was physically stronger than him. The moment stretched into a small eternity.

“I can forgive you for being an idiot in love,” Jack said finally. “But the advances have to stop. I know in terms of the number of things we have to forgive each other for, my wrongs exceed yours. But I’m not actively trying to harm you Vlad. I suggest you do the same for Maddie and me.”

Vlad nodded, caught off guard at Jack’s assertiveness, and not sure what else to do.

“And one last thing – don’t you _dare_ say you forgive me again unless you mean it. Maddie’s right, we screwed up, but if we’re going to be friends again, and truly friends, not just playing at it, we need open, honest communication. You think you can manage that?”

“I – er… yes.” Vlad said, surprising himself.

“Good,” Jack said, and suddenly he was all smiles again. “Do you think while we’re here, I can see your lab?”

Vlad relaxed. That was the Jack Fenton he knew.

“I’d rather not linger.”

Too soon they reached the master bedroom, and Vlad froze with his hand on the doorknob because he suddenly remembered the state of it. Too much of a story could be gleaned from it, and daft as Jack may be, Vlad would rather not risk it.

“Stay here, Jack,” Vlad said, nudging Jack to the right of the doorway so the room would be out of his line of sight.

“But don’t you need help packing? And what if the ghost-“

“The ghost made a promise, didn’t he? He’s good at keeping his word, if nothing else. I’ll scream if he shows up, but seriously old friend, my bedroom is off limits.”

“Well, alright,” Jack said looking somewhat concerned. “Shout if you need me.”

“I will,” Vlad said, and he entered the room quickly, closing the door behind him.

A part of Vlad expected his assailant to show up the nanosecond the door closed, but he did not, and Vlad relaxed his shoulders minutely, grateful for small favors. Pointedly avoiding looking at the mess of the bed – those sheets would have to be burned - Vlad pulled his suitcases from the closet and started to pack.

Vlad liked to look professional at all times, so the closet was filled with much of the same. He wasn’t certain how much to pack. He irrationally felt like each day he packed for was another day he was resigning himself to his fate as the Master’s plaything, but he didn’t want to underestimate, so he decided to pack week’s worth.

As he packed, Vlad found Jack’s words rattling around his head despite himself. Open and honest communication, huh?

Vlad closed up one suitcase and moved to his dresser to fill another with undergarments, socks and pajamas.

Jack’s words echoed back to him.

_“I’m going to keep you safe.”_

_“He threatened exactly what you suspect. But I’m not letting him hurt you again.”_

An uncomfortable feeling was forming in Vlad’s chest. It wasn’t until he zipped up the second suitcase that he recognized it for what it was. Was he…. Feeling guilty?

Vlad actually paused at that. It was a peculiar feeling. Vlad was having a hard time recalling the last time he felt guilty about anything. Vlad wasn’t sure what the problem was. Jack was risking his life for him, like a good pawn. Vlad should be grateful his manipulation had worked, he had taken a calculated risk in going to the Fentons and secured a safety net as a result-

Except it hadn’t been a calculated risk. It had been an impulsive decision, one he hadn’t even been fully conscious of making. He had cried all over Jack, not because he wanted to manipulate him, but because he had needed to cry and some instinctive part of his brain sought comfort, needed a friend-

Weakness. That’s all it was. All weakness. Vlad knew better. There was no such thing as true friends. He couldn’t let his guard down. Except… except a part of him really wanted to. He hadn’t come to a decision. Did he want power or friendship? To kill Jack or forgive him? Vlad knew just last week he’d likely been one of the most powerful humans in existence – billionaire, ghost powers, mayor, businessman. He remembered when he’d first become a billionaire. He’d thought that would make him happy. It hadn’t. He kept seeking more money, more power. Perhaps if he obtained the Green Bay Packers – No. Vlad knew he could overshadow the right people, and get them to sell the team, he _knew_ he could, but it wouldn’t count if he didn’t earn it because unlike everything else he got with his ghost powers, the Packers actually _mattered_. If he obtained them through falsehoods, the victory would have been hollow.

_And if I obtained Maddie by killing Jack? Blackmailing her? Wouldn’t the victory also be hollow?_

Vlad envisioned Maddie’s smiling face, recalled the way she looked at Jack and it about ripped his heart out to think she would never look at him that way. It was something he didn’t want to accept. But… if she could just smile at him _at all,_ would that be enough?

Vlad frowned, his gaze turning to his bed, the rumpled stained sheets, the foul stench of it, the signs of what he’d been forced to endure. This was where his quest for power had brought him. Perhaps it couldn’t hurt… couldn’t hurt to seek out the simpler things? Friendship?

Vlad exited his bedroom and closed the door quickly behind him, suitcases in tow, guilt burning a hole in his gut.

“Almost done, Jack,” Vlad said. “Keep an eye out for a cat, would you?”

Vlad was efficient. He quickly packed toiletries and had Jack carry out all of ‘Maddie’’s toys, food, litterbox, and water dispenser. Now for the cat herself…

Vlad frowned. He’d avoided the side of the house with the ghost portal and study, not wanting Jack to see. But it looked like it couldn’t be helped with Jack looming over him like some overbearing shadow. So off he walked.

“Is that your lab? Cool!” Jack exclaimed as they passed the rough hole in the hallway floor. “Looks like you could use a better ladder though.”

Vlad would have facepalmed if not for his broken nose. Jack could be so dense. _Obviously_ the entrance was not by design. Vlad’s annoyance and guilt surged together, and at once he snapped.

“You don’t have to stay by my side all the time you know, not even tonight. I wouldn’t do the same for you if our roles were reversed.”

“I’m just keeping an eye out for you Vlad, it’s not like I’m planning to take your place,” Jack responded. And his tone was so bouncy, so cheerful, it grated on Vlad’s nerves.

“I wouldn’t even take that risk.”

“Yeah, but Vlad, would you take that risk for anyone?”

Vlad frowned. “Of course not.”

Jack grinned, as if that answered everything. “See? So why should I be offended if you won’t take that risk for me?”

“I – Jack, that doesn’t even make sense-“

“I know you Vladdie, you’re so stuck in that head of yours you would never knowingly put yourself in harm’s way. But I think if it came down to it, you’d risk your life for mine.”

“No, I really wouldn’t,” Vlad insisted.

“You won’t know until it happens,” Jack said with an unabashed grin. “But I know, deep down, you’re a good person.”

“…You’re an enormous fool.”

“So everyone keeps telling me,” Jack was undeterred. “Now come on, we have a cat to find. I don’t suppose she’ll come when called?”

“She does what she wants,” Vlad said, thinking fondly of his feline. Much like her namesake. However, the guilt that had been so suffocating minutes earlier had lifted slightly. It had bothered him more than he wanted to admit that Jack would risk his life for his, but now that Jack knew Vlad wouldn’t do the same, Vlad could take advantage of the buffoon’s generosity without worrying about it.

Perhaps this open and honest communication thing had its merits.

“Last thing Jack, you said you’re sorry about not being a good enough friend for me to come to you immediately with my problems?”

Vlad asked, checking a room. No cat.

“I forgive you for that- nothing else. I don’t hold it against you, it’s ridiculous to believe you could have been that type of friend if I won’t let you be.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty terrible at letting people in. You’re like – like a mystery wrapped in an enigma burrito!”

“…. I’m a what?”

“Sorry, sorry. I just mean it’s easier to get close to someone when you know them. I know you’re rich and you love the packers, and you still secretly research ghosts – but I didn’t know that third thing until today. You can’t get close to Maddie and me if you won’t let us get close to you.”

Vlad frowned deeper. “So, you want me to, what, tell you all about my childhood?”

“Just whatever comes natural,” Jack said, checking another room. “You don’t have to spill your guts or anything, just contribute a bit about yourself to conversations. It’s hard to be a friend with someone if you don’t actually know them after all.”

“…Indeed.”

Vlad was getting frustrated. Still no cat. Much to his annoyance, Jack’s words were worming their way into his brain. It wouldn’t have bothered him, not at all, if Vlad didn’t know that this whole tenuous friendship thing he was trying out was likely to shatter should Jack or Maddie Fenton ever find out he was the ‘Wisconsin Ghost’, especially given his behavior at the reunion. And if it shattered from that, could it really be considered a friendship at all? World conquest would be easier than this! No not conquest, that was… no. Damn it, he was not like the Master! He wouldn’t be.

A veritable black cloud was forming over Vlad’s head when Jack again shook him from his thoughts.

“Wow, what happened to that door?”

_The study._

Vlad was about to usher Jack quickly past when he saw the familiar ball of fluff sitting on his desk.

“There you are!” Vlad said happily, quickly bypassing Jack to pick up his pet. The cat settled into his hold. Good, she was in a decent mood. She wouldn’t be in a second.

“Jack, could you hold open the carrier? Hold it vertically.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Jack said, moving to comply.

Vlad quickly scruffed ‘Maddie’ and she went limp in his hold and he quickly lowered her into the cage and shut it. Once inside and free she let out a low unhappy meow.

“Sorry, dearest,” Vlad said. “Alright, we should be good to…”

He trailed off, looking at the black stain on the floor. Anti-ectoplasm he was sure.

“Jack, I don’t suppose you have a utility knife?”

“Sure do, I always carry around a pocket knife, helps in a pinch.”

Jack set down the cat carrier and fumbled about his pockets before producing the knife.

“Um, why?”

“I’d like to avoid doing another skin scraping,” Vlad said by way of explanation and quickly bent down and cut out the section of stained carpet. It looked like he’d done some damage, the stain was about basketball sized in diameter.

“There,” Vlad said, wincing at the slight ache in his joints and spine as he got to his feet. He was too old for this.

“That should be everything, I’ll carry Ma—my cat.”

Vlad picked up the carrier and headed to the broken doors, but he soon noticed Jack wasn’t behind him.

He turned and noticed Jack was staring intensely at the bloody axe in the corner.

“Coming?” Vlad asked, and Jack jumped as though electrocuted.

“Ah yes, sorry, sorry about that, coming, right away!”

Vlad frowned. Jack was clearly unsettled. It wasn’t fair to ask him to guard him. But Vlad wasn’t asking, Jack was offering, and that was different.

As Jack and Vlad left the mayor’s mansion, Vlad found himself grimly hoping that involving the Fentons wouldn’t end up making things worse. Vlad hoped they could protect him – he willed it with all his being – but if they couldn’t?

“Just one last stop Jack, could you swing by the pharmacy? I want to stock up on some supplies…”


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_5:30 pm, Tuesday, April 17 th, Fenton Works_

_~Danny~_

Danny Fenton sat at his bedroom desk, pouring over the book they had taken from Vlad’s library. It had been informative, but hardly helpful. The Monkey’s Paw amulets were feared and avoided by all residents of the ghost zone, and predated earliest known records. It allowed one wish per owner, which always came true but often at a staggering price. No one was sure who created them or why. Of particular note was that the amulet did not fuse with the wish maker, all except for one specific amulet that had been modified…

Danny reread the chapter, making sure he understood. As bizarre as it was, it seemed they were dealing with a version of the amulet which had been altered. One of the ‘Ancient Warlocks’, whatever those were, had tried to negate the amulet’s negative effects by making the amulet crave the same thing the wisher did. The warlock had wished for the return of his daughter from the realm of oblivion. Upon wishing it, the amulet had fused with the warlock, and he had gotten his daughter back, but only in body.

There was no mention of the warlock getting stuck inside the body of his daughter, or some such nonsense as the Master described his amulet doing, but it seemed close enough. The warlock grew depressed and grew to resent what his daughter was, and only when he destroyed his daughter’s body, the object of his wish, did the amulet release him. The Ancient Warlock couldn’t destroy it, so he sealed it away, but it went missing along with multiple other dangerous artifacts centuries later. The details were scarce, but Danny was surprised any record existed at all after over 40,000 years.

The problem was, how on earth could anything in the book be translated to save Vlad? If the Master lusted after men, Danny couldn’t exactly go about killing off half the human race. Based on the Master’s own accounts, making the ghost lose interest in Vlad would make the Master unable to materialize, not separate them. While sealing the Master away would prevent Vlad from being injured, it was probably impossible to make the state permanent.

“This is useless,” Danny muttered, slamming the book shut.

With a huff, Danny picked up the book and took it to Jazz’s room. She looked up the instant he entered through the open doorway.

“Anything useful in that book?” she asked.

“It’s the right book,” Danny said, “but it’s not helpful. Give it a read when you can.”

Jazz nodded pensively and accepted it.

“Did you notice…” Danny started, waiting until he had his sister’s attention, “how Vlad said mom and dad knew _all_ the details? Do you think he really told them that the Master….” Danny trailed off.

Jazz nodded. “And did you hear the way dad was talking? It sounds like they know they’re in danger due to the Master’s, erm, voyeuristic tendencies.”

Danny swallowed. This was not a conversation he enjoyed having.

“Jazz, that ghost looks like a walking advertisement for bodybuilding. Do you think they really can keep both Vlad and themselves safe?”

Jazz pursed her lips. “Well… they know they need conventional weapons, Vlad told them that day one. They should-”

“They shouldn’t take any risks for Vlad,” Danny growled. “Help him, sure, but after all he’s done? They’re moving _him_ in, and kicking _us_ out!”

“You saw his injuries,” Jazz reprimanded. “What did you expect them to do, toss him back to his abuser? No government agency would be able to help with this, the police are hardly equipped to deal with the supernatural.”

“But that’s the thing Jazz, the Master can be hurt by conventional weapons, not ghost ones. Don’t you think the police would be _better_ able to deal with it?”

“Sure, they could surround Vlad, point guns at him and wait for the Master to appear, but for how long?” Jazz asked. “The ghost can hide indefinitely. I think mom and dad should be able to figure out how to destroy the anti-ectoplasm they were talking about, and in the meantime, if they pose enough of a physical threat, the Master won’t emerge. They can keep Vlad safe.”

“I don’t like it, Jazz,” Danny said quietly.

“You seemed gung-ho about rescuing Vlad from his mansion earlier.”

“That’s different! If they get hurt because of Vlad, my enemy-“

“Danny, I think you forget, long before Vlad was your enemy, he was mom and dad’s friend. You can’t expect them to just abandon him. If you drifted apart from Tucker and he came back into your life 20 years later, would you leave him to a fate like this?”

“Jazz, that scenario is only similar if Tucker was trying to murder me and marry Sam. I’m not saying mom and dad should _abandon_ Vlad, they just shouldn’t take unnecessary risks. Urgh, this is insane!”

“Makes you wish for another invasion of the Ghost King, doesn’t it?” Jazz said, her lips quirking upward into a sort of smile.

“It kind of does,” Danny agreed, returning it. “Enemies like that are so much more straightforward.”

Danny heard the front door open and a moment later his dad was shouting that they had returned.

“Where’s dad back from?” Danny asked. Jazz shrugged.

The two teens ventured out of Jazz’s room and into the hall. Jack stood at the bottom of the stairs, his arms laden with bags.

“I’ll take these to your room,” Jack said to Vlad in his booming voice. He took the stairs two at a time but paused when he reached Danny and Jazz.

“Hey kids! Didja find a place to stay?”

Danny nodded, as did Jazz.

“Dad, don’t you think you may be taking too big a risk trying to protect Vlad from this ghost? It sounds super dangerous,” Danny said nervously.

“It is, son. But we’re Fentons! And Fentons don’t let some spook walk all over people, no matter what!”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Jazz said looking pointedly at Danny. Danny frowned. It was different somehow. Danny was used to taking risks, but he didn’t want his parents to do the same.

Jack placed the bags in the guestroom and shut the door.

“Dinner’s almost ready. You two should eat before you go. Maddie made chicken stir fry! And cookies!”

_More cookies?_ Danny thought. Not that he was going to complain. They were delicious, but if his dad ate any more, he’d need to start investing in larger jumpsuits.

Danny was surprised when he reached the bottom of the stairs to see Vlad holding a pet carrier with a fat white feline inside.

“No way, you actually got a cat?” Danny cackled without thinking. Vlad bristled.

“It’s my sister’s – oh who am I kidding, I don’t even have a sister. Yes, Daniel, I got a cat.”

Watching Vlad’s anger peter out like that kind of took the fun out of taunting him, but a part of Danny longed for some normalcy.

“Let me guess – you named it Maddie?”

Vlad turned red from his neck all the way to the roots of his hair. Under the purple bruises it made for an alarming sight. He seemed more embarrassed than angry.

“Oh man, you did!” Danny laughed. “Glad you got one though, you needed a distraction. Now that you know I was right all along, you should try my other suggestion – internet dating. Isolation isn’t good for you ya know.”

There had been some element of genuine concern in that last jibe, Danny was surprised to find. Even Vlad seemed to notice it as his lip quirked up in a genuine half smile. It was a welcome switch from his usual smirk.

“I think it would be best for me to salvage the mess of what few relationships I have before trying to start a new one, Daniel,” Vlad said. “Given that I seem to have acquired a ghostly roommate, my life is on hold.”

The mood turned somber.

“Sit down, all of you,” Maddie said from the kitchen. “It’s not every day we’re all here to eat as a family.”

Vlad released the catch on the cage and the cat plodded out, looking around curiously.

“I’ll get the rest of her things,” Jack said, glancing toward the cat. “One moment,” and he dashed out the door. Vlad squatted down and carded his hand through the feline’s fur.

“I think I’ll rename you Celeste. Do you like it?” he asked the white fluffball. The cat butted Vlad’s hand affectionately. “Celeste it is,” he hummed.

Seeing Vlad act domestic was bizarre to say the least. Danny’s instinct was that the man had an ulterior motive, but under these circumstances…

“Got the cat stuff. I’ll grab the rest of the things after dinner,” Jack said re-entering the house. “Just a minute Maddie,” he apologized, and went about setting down the food and water dispenser, then proceeded to carry the litter box upstairs.

Jazz crouched down as well until she was level with Vlad and the cat.

“Who’s a good kitty?” she asked the newly christened Celeste. The cat eyed her warily and took a step back. Vlad chuckled.

“Sorry my dear, she’s slow to open up to people.”

“That’s alright,” Jazz said standing up. “We can get to know each other.”

***

Danny had assumed dinner would be an awkward, quiet affair given the present state of things. He hadn’t expected his mom to start a conversation with, “I think we’ve had enough ghosts for today.” Danny just about dropped his fork. The Fentons _never_ had enough of ghosts. “Danny? How’d your test go?”

And after Danny and Jazz had told about their day, it only got weirder.

“Hey, V-man, remember that time when Harry Chin tripped and dropped all the lab mice on the way to the bio lab?”

“Harriet, dear,” Maddie corrected.

Vlad smiled. “She was only carrying them in the first place because she wanted to prove women weren’t afraid of mice, it wasn’t even related to her master’s degree! I don’t think I’ll ever forget that scream though.”

“A girly shriek is more like,” Jack roared. “She didn’t prove women aren’t afraid of mice with that display, I can tell you that!”

“And you and I had to go chasing them down the hall,” Vlad began to laugh as he told the story. “And you- you managed-“ he devolved into silent laughter. Danny raised an eyebrow at Jazz. Neither of them had ever seen Vlad this way.

“I managed to get my head underneath Dr. Rodgers’ skirt,” Jack finished with a chuckle of his own. “I’m surprised she didn’t knock my teeth out with her shoe.”

“You crawled right into her, you oaf!” Vlad said, slowly pulling himself together.

“I was focused, alright?” Jack grinned sheepishly. “I caught the mouse, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did, and I seem to remember spending the next five minutes desperately explaining that you weren’t a pervert, just an idiot. Come to think of it, Harriet never apologized for dropping all those mice.”

“She was traumatized,” Maddie said, shaking her head. “Kept shrieking about hearing mouse feet for weeks, made it a pain living with her.”

“Then she shouldn’t have volunteered to carry the mice!” Jack said.

“So you were both in the same Master’s program?” Jazz asked.

“Sure were!” Jazz enthused. “Vladdie and I both mastered in biological engineering. By the way Vlad, we, uh, lost touch at the end of the year. What did you end up writing your thesis on? I wrote mine on the biological properties of ectoplasm. Didn’t get as much recognition as I’d hoped though, most of the university seemed to think I’d fabricated the results.”

“I designed a self-learning AI that could use DNA samples from multiple species to get an understanding of the function of dna and genes, and, using that data, it could theoretically build a new genetic structure based on input parameters and specifications. I focused specifically on the in-depth practical applications of artificially grown life forms. I couldn’t accomplish as much as I’d liked as we lacked the technology to 3d print biology at the time, so it was highly theoretical, and the program itself was still in the infancy stages of its learning. Still, they thought it showed promise. Shame my contract for using university resources meant they’d get all the patents for my AI.”

“Sounds like you relied heavily on your bachelors in robotics, I remember you focused on artificial intelligence there as well. I didn’t realize you had taken the theory so far,” Maddie said.

“We still can’t 3d print biology,” Jack said confused. “It’s just plastics at this point.”

“Oh, we can’t do human biology, but I find ectoplasm can be as malleable as stem cells, as long as you don’t mind your creations exhibiting ghost powers. I could probably use the same program with stem cells as a baseline starting point, and accelerate their growth-“

“Vlad, you continued the AI experiments?” Maddie asked with some awe. “That technology is eons beyond anything we have in existence today!”

“Well, the university owns the patent, so I couldn’t sell it even if I wanted to. And my experiments ended up being more unstable than I would have liked – I was a bit too ambitious I suppose.”

Danny was surprised. Vlad was skirting incredibly close to revealing the existence of Danielle, as well as his ghostly experiments. Just how much had he told Maddie and Jack?

“By the way mom, I can’t believe I’ve never asked, what did you major in?” Jazz asked. “I think I had always assumed it was ghost related, but ghosts didn’t become an accepted field of study until just this year.”

“I double majored in physics and mechanical engineering as a bachelors, and got a masters and PHD in physics with a special emphasis on quantum mechanics. It was necessary, in order to bust into the ghost dimension. Your father both majored and mastered in biological engineering- though he studied quite a bit of my notes to bring his mechanical engineering up to speed to make our ghost weapons. And Vlad, you got doctorates in chemical and mechanical engineering as well?”

“Yes, two doctorates. I quite enjoyed them. As part of the mechanical engineering portion I got to help build satellites. Space is such a fascinating frontier.”

“You built satellites?” Danny asked, suddenly interested.

“Yes. Got to witness the launch too, I had to get special permission from my doctors to be let out, but it was worth it. Vladco has launched a satellite or two of its own.”

“That’s so cool!” Danny enthused genuinely.

“How long _were_ you in the hospital, Vlad?” Maddie asked with some surprise.

“I was there every day for about four years and began to gain increased independence from there. All told, it was 7 years before the last of the ecto-acne fully healed and I was officially released, and a year of weekly check-ins after that before the doctors felt comfortable enough that I wouldn’t relapse.”

Silence descended.

“I didn’t realize the symptoms were so bad for so long,” Maddie said solemnly. Vlad shrugged a bit.

“Unfortunately, my ability to discuss it was and is rather limited. Ecto-acne was ghost related after all – it defied all known explanations, and the government made me sign some rather complex non-disclosure agreements. The only benefit was the strangeness of it guaranteed all my hospital bills were covered by those who wanted to research it, and the University was so worried I’d sue them for the medical expenses, I was able to get permission to continue my coursework remotely. Perhaps – perhaps someday I can tell the whole story.”

Danny was shaken. Seriously? First, he almost talked about Danielle, now this? Was Vlad suggesting he would reveal his ghost powers? No, that was impossible. It was part of some larger manipulation to win over Danny’s parents he was sure.

Vlad was quick to change the topic.

“Well, I did get out eventually and I managed to amass quite a fortune for myself.”

“No surprises there, V-man, you’re the smartest guy I know,” Jack said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t use more of your degree,” Maddie chimed in.

“Oh, I use my degrees, but for my hobbies. It was just easier to lean on my business acumen to get enough money to finance my interests.”

Danny barely reigned in a snort.

“I could have used some of that acumen thing, it took us a decade to pay off the loans. I don’t know how you managed it,” Jack groused.

“Oh, I didn’t have student loans. And thankfully the government funded my extended hospital stay, so when I was released, I was in the green.”

“You had no student loans? Did you get a bunch of scholarships?” Maddie inquired.

“No, it was paid for by a benefactor.” A baffled silence followed that statement. Vlad sighed. “Well, I suppose after many years of friendship, I may as well finally explain. My college career was funded entirely by the Wisconsin Dairy King. He also gave me his mansion when he died. That was thoughtful of him.”

“The Dairy King?” Maddie asked. “The owner of the majority of Wisconsin’s cheese making plants? The one who spoke at our bachelor’s graduation ceremony?”

“That’s the one.”

“… But why?” Jazz asked, confused.

“Hmm, he may have been under the impression I was his illegitimate son.”

“What? The Dairy King is your father? That gho- um, I mean, the guy in the portrait at your mansion?!” Danny asked in disbelief. He remembered the kind elderly ghost who had insisted he was friendly but wanted to be left alone. That kindly figure, Vlad’s father? No way.

“No, I didn’t say he was my father, I said he thought he was. There’s a distinct difference.”

“He thought he was?” Maddie probed.

“My mother bribed a doctor to forge the paternity test results,” Vlad said neutrally, finishing the last of his meal. “The Dairy King stepped out on his wife, and mother seized the moment of his indiscretion to make sure I was conceived in the proper timeframe. My mother was very analytical and was willing to do whatever it took to climb the social ladder. She went from living on welfare in a halfway home to the lap of luxury. I never met the Dairy King, such was his condition, but I never wanted for anything.”

“So you – who is your father?” Maddie asked.

“No idea, nor do I particularly care to know,” Vlad said. “Mother took care of me well enough. Is there more tea?”

Maddie startled a bit, then hurried to pour it, chewing her lip.

“That sounds like a hard way to grow up,” she said finally.

“I couldn’t say, it’s what I knew. Mother made sure we got enough money to enroll me in private schools and mingle with the elite. I’m a lot like her in many respects. She taught me to do whatever it took to reach the top. Unfortunately, money and power doesn’t seem to have gotten me much happiness. She wasn’t a particularly happy person either. Funny how children are doomed to repeat their parents’ mistakes.”

Vlad rubbed his face and winced. It seemed he had momentarily forgotten his broken nose. Danny wasn’t sure what to think of the story. He wasn’t sure if it was true, but it seemed too fantastical to make up.

“Sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of introspection,” Jazz said, looking at Vlad thoughtfully.

“Recent events have put a lot of my life into perspective,” Vlad said, eyes downcast. “I’m not quite sure where I want to go from here but – I’m pretty sure – once we resolve my current ghost problem I don’t want to continue down the same path, keep making the same mistakes.”

Vlad put down his silverware with an air of finality. “Thank you for dinner, Maddie, it was delicious.”

_Nice subject change, Plasmius_ , Danny thought darkly. Vlad was definitely manipulating his parents, there was no way he was trying to reform, just like that. Danny just hoped they could get rid of the Master soon, and things would go back to how they were.

***

The atmosphere at the house had been too strange for Danny’s tastes and he had been all too eager to leave to stay at Tucker’s. That didn’t mean they’d forgotten their goal to waste or otherwise incapacitate the Master though.

“Maybe we could put Vlad in a medically induced coma until your parents can figure out how to destroy that anti-ectoplasm?” Sam’s voice echoed out of Tucker’s computer from the video chat.

“Dad said the Master appeared while Vlad was sleeping – and that book said he attacked men in their sleep too,” Danny said, rubbing his face tiredly. “It wouldn’t help.”

“I still think the amulet is our best bet,” Jazz’s voice said from the group chat. She was at her friend’s place, Ruth or something, and she swore she got the room to herself. With how involved she’d become, it made no sense to leave her out. “It can’t be destroyed, but the book made it sound like its function could be altered.”

“Yes, but it was done by an ‘Ancient One’ with ‘magic’” Tucker said from Danny’s right, “Where on earth are we going to find something like that?”

“What about Desiree?” Sam asked slowly. “The amulet grants wishes, right? Maybe another wish could overrule the Master’s?”

The four contemplated that. “Desiree’s wishes also end up twisted and warped, just like the amulet,” Danny said finally. “Plus, she gets more powerful the more wishes she grants and the more complex they are. Granting a wish this big might grant her absolute power- not to mention we’ve always been able to undo her work in the past.”

“I hate to say it, but we may just have to wait until your parents can figure out how to destroy that anti-ectoplasm stuff,” Tucker groaned.

“If we can’t affect the amulet I think – I think the best plan is probably to attack and incapacitate the Master when he’s separated from Vlad,” Jazz said.

“Yes, but how?” Danny asked impatiently. “I’m positive ghost-based attacks won’t work. If any of the stuff in mom and dad’s lab worked, they would have used it already! And we don’t exactly have a stash of conventional weapons lying around.”

“You could take some…” Sam started but she sounded uncomfortable at her own words.

“You mean like raid the police station and take a gun?” Tucker asked incredulously.

“No, definitely not,” Danny put his foot down. “A gun could seriously hurt someone, not just the ghost. I can vary the strength of an ecto-blast, but a gun shoots indiscriminately. And how are we going to separate them anyway?”

“One thing at a time,” Jazz advised. “Let’s focus on how we’d be able to defeat the Master first.”

“We could… physically overpower him?” Tucker tried half-heartedly.

“I’m pretty sure my dad and the Master weigh about the same, but the Master is solid muscle,” Danny said. “I don’t think it can be done.”

“We need some kind of weapon,” Jazz concluded. “The book said he heals quickly. How quickly?”

“Vlad probably knows,” Danny said apprehensively. “There was a lot of blood in his study. If a human had been bleeding that badly, they would have died.”

“Then we have to assume any damage we do would be temporary at best,” Jazz said. “Maybe… an electric shock, or perhaps a tranquilizer drug?”

“Just because he can be hurt by human means, doesn’t mean he has human biology,” Sam interjected. “I don’t know if any of our drugs would have much effect.”

“An electric shock should work,” Tucker said. “It’s just a question of how strong it would have to be, and how long it would last.”

“Ok, so we zap him,” Danny said, running a hand through his hair. “Then what? We have Vlad run for his life? The Master would still be effectively immortal. How long could we keep him down?”

“Just because he heals quickly, doesn’t mean he’s immortal. Some of the weaker animal ghosts have died when we attacked them,” Jazz said.

“Yeah, and I’ve punched others with the force of a fighter jet and they’re still alive,” Danny pointed out. “That’s pretty immortal.”

“I find very little can survive without a head,” Jazz said quietly.

Danny felt ill. “No, we can’t just – I’m all for putting a stop to this but we can’t just go around murdering ghosts. It’s one thing to accidentally waste one that’s attacking, it’s another to _behead_ one – and do it premeditated, no less!”

“Why not just shove him into the ghost zone?” Sam said suddenly. “He got stuck there for over 100 years. He can’t float. If we shove him in, there’s a good chance he will be stuck there for the rest of our lifetime.”

“That… that could work,” Danny said. “My only other thought is if we got mom and dad to manufacture a sort of prison – like an iron maiden except without all those spikes. If we trapped him in something like that, we could not only deliver him to the ghost zone but turn him over to the Observants for judgement as well.”

“I’m honestly not sure that’s a better option,” Sam said. “If we do that, the ghosts can touch him. They can carry him. And they can toss him back through a portal into our world if they’re feeling vindictive.”

“We could turn him over to the government if we dd the iron maiden thing,” Tucker pointed out.

“Yeah, but to the Guys in White?” Danny asked. “They’ll experiment on him. Not that I’m complaining, but what happens if they figure out how to artificially create anti-ectoplasm? There’s a reason the ghost is called One Touch Kill. Someone could, I don’t know, build an anti-ectoplasm bomb and toss it into the ghost zone in some misguided attempt to purify it, and take out our own world in the process!”

“It sounds like literally tossing him into the ghost zone and hoping for the best is our best option,” Jazz said finally.

“Maybe we could cuff his hands and feet?” Tucker offered. “Then ghosts can’t throw him back out, but he can’t climb out either.”

“That sounds far too much like us exacting judgment,” Danny said. “The ghost deserves a lifetime in prison, but can we really make that call by ourselves?”

“We’ll toss him into the ghost zone,” Jazz said again. “We can shock him to incapacitate him, and mom and dad can probably carry him together and toss him in. We need to separate Vlad from the Master in the lab to make that feasible. Any ideas?”

Silence.

“Well, we know what the book said,” Danny said slowly, distaste evident in his tone. “That ghost materializes when he _desires_ Vlad.”

“But… he has to have some extreme self-control,” Sam said contemplatively. “Otherwise he might appear in front of people or at other inopportune moments. He’s had a thousand years at least to practice. I don’t think we’ll be able to make him manifest if he doesn’t want to. Besides, I don’t even want to think about how we’d make him _desire Vlad_ badly enough to show up for an obvious trap. Not to mention, he would be able to disappear the moment the feeling faded.”

“Wait a minute…” Danny said slowly. “That book…. It said The Master was vulnerable when his host died.”

“Yes, but killing Vlad kind of defeats the whole point of this,” Sam said frustrated.

“It – it might not actually be that bad of an idea,” Jazz said.

“You too?” Sam asked, surprised.

“There are medications that stop the heart,” Jazz said.

“Vlad would have to lose consciousness and stop breathing too,” Tucker pointed out. “I’m sure there are plenty of ways to do that where Vlad could be resuscitated – but no way to do it where we can _guarantee_ he can be resuscitated.”

Everyone was quiet.

“I don’t know of a way… but maybe mom and dad do?” Jazz started. “And if one doesn’t exist, dad’s pretty good at creating biological weapons-“

“But he wouldn’t be able to test it on anything,” Danny protested. “Maybe rats, but rats and humans don’t really compare too well for something like this.”

“It sounds like this plan might have to be a last resort,” Sam said grimly. “It would probably be best if your parents find out how to destroy the anti-ectoplasm – sure, the Master would be killed, but somehow that seems better than shooting or beheading him. Especially if it’s the adults who do it.”

“Can we make the decision though that this plan is a last resort?” Jazz asked. “What if it takes a lifetime to figure out how to destroy the anti-ectoplasm? We can’t spend a lifetime protecting Vlad.”

“You’re assuming mom and dad _can_ protect Vlad,” Danny said darkly, shuddering slightly.

“Of course they can,” Jazz said firmly. “Assuming our house is no longer on lockdown tomorrow, we’ll tell them our plan, and they can decide whether or not to use it.”

“How do we explain how we came up with it?” Danny asked. “They have no reason to believe the Master can’t just possess one of them the instant Vlad is temporarily dead. It’s possible even Vlad doesn’t realize how he came to bear that amulet mark. He probably doesn’t even know it _is_ an amulet mark!”

“….we could explain the ghost library…” Jazz started hesitantly.

“Without explaining my ghost powers?” Danny asked incredulously.

“Danny… you know life would be more difficult if mom and dad knew, not because they’d want to hurt you, but because they’d want to protect you. And if they knew about your ghost powers – there’d be nothing stopping you from telling them about Vlad’s, and he won’t be able to blackmail you anymore. They’ll find out about you eventually. It may be better if it’s on our terms.”

“… I’ll think about it,” Danny grumbled. “But maybe I’ll just try to convince mom I enjoy taking the specter speeder for joy rides…”

“That may not be better,” Sam sighed. “As far as they know, you’ve never been inside the ghost zone. They’ll probably freak.”

“We’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Danny decided grimly. Danny didn’t want to admit he’d been thinking along the same lines. Even if he wanted to reveal his ghost powers to his parents, the prospect was still terrifying. Once it was done, he couldn’t take it back.

“While we wait…” Tucker said, digging into his backpack, “Have any of you dudes read To Kill a Mocking Bird? I kinda haven’t, and there’s a test tomorrow, so…”

Sam facepalmed. Jazz laughed. For a moment, things were normal again.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

_10:40 pm, Tuesday, April 17 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie worked diligently, carefully applying the last of the radioactive isotopes to a small swatch of anti-ectoplasm-soaked carpet fiber.

She quickly adjusted the microscope to view the results. Nothing. It wasn’t absorbing it, so that was something, but it wasn’t melting, breaking down, or becoming altered in any way either.

She watched it for a few minutes before giving up with a sigh, labeling the sample and filing it for follow up the next day. She really had thought radiation would be their best bet. But no dice.

Her gaze drifted to the stun gun she’d created. It was a small, two-pronged fork with a button to discharge. It required close range, but at least this way it was less likely Jack would injure himself with it. She’d tested and calibrated it carefully to make sure it would just incapacitate and not kill. She hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.

Maddie made extra sure the isotopes were all safely contained before removing her full body jumpsuit and putting it in a box for decontamination. Her trusty blue jumpsuit was underneath of course.

Maddie was running out of ideas. The substance defied comprehension. She would have to sleep on it and hope for better ideas in the morning.

Except she couldn’t sleep on it. Because Vlad…

Maddie sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She and Jack would have to take shifts. What was the best way to do this?

They couldn’t stand guard outside Vlad’s room because the threat was within him. They couldn’t both stay up either, because they had to sleep at some point. They could do two four-hour shifts perhaps? Maddie could set up a chair in the guest bedroom to stand vigil, and an alarm could be set in the master bedroom to wake up Jack when it was time to trade off. Except Jack never woke up for the alarm and had a bad habit of turning it off in his sleep. Vlad had taken to shooting Jack with a pellet gun back in their college days if Jack turned off his alarm without getting up, hoping to cure him of the habit. It hadn’t worked, and Vlad had given up after a month or so. Maddie had a sneaking suspicion Vlad had just enjoyed shooting Jack though. Theirs had always been a love/hate relationship.

Alternatively… they could set up two chairs in the guest bedroom and trade off who would sleep. Maddie was reasonably sure she could sleep sitting up. The problem with any plan though was Jack. His heart was certainly in it, but Maddie knew her husband would have a hard time staying awake without anything to do. No matter what they did though, they couldn’t stop the Master from materializing. It was going to be a rough night.

With no better ideas, Maddie decided the two-chairs method would be best, and she went to set it up, taking the stun gun with her.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she ran into Vlad’s cat, nearly literally.

It spooked and ran off. Not surprising. Maddie had never gotten on with cats, she was more of a dog person. It was kind of an ugly thing, she thought. But if a cat could serve as Vlad’s companion instead of her, she was all for it. The cat’s presence in her house served to further remind Maddie that things were Not OK. Failing to figure out how to destroy the anti-ectoplasm wasn’t an option. They had to succeed.

Thankfully, there was a large recliner in the master bedroom that Maddie was able to drag into the guest room with some difficulty. The sleeper could take the recliner. Maddie would watch the time on her cellphone to trade shifts.

She carried a stool from the kitchen up the stairs to serve as the guard post. There. It would be impossible to sleep on a chair with no back, or at least incredibly difficult. Maddie supposed Vlad might find it hard to sleep with both of them in his room, standing guard no less, but he was just going to have to deal with it. Speaking of Vlad, where had he and Jack gone off to?

Maddie climbed up the stairs all the way to the roof and ducked through the trap door leading to the Fenton Ops Center. Jack and Vlad were sitting immediately inside. They had removed the latch for the trap door and seemed to be in the process of installing a lock. To keep Jazz and Danny safe, Maddie thought grimly. What a situation they had found themselves in.

“I hate to cut this short,” Maddie said by way of greeting, “But it’s five ‘til 11. We should wrap this up.”

Vlad looked up quickly. His blue eyes looked frightened. It wasn’t a good look on him and Maddie looked away.

“Jack, I’ve set up the guest bedroom to keep guard duty. Vlad, go ahead and get changed into whatever you normally wear to sleep. We’ll follow.”

“…Sure,” Vlad said awkwardly, and he headed down the stairs. Maddie put a hand on Jack’s shoulder to prevent him from going after Vlad immediately.

“Jack, honey, I need you to pay attention,” Maddie pulled out the stun gun for him to examine. “This is a stun gun,” she explained. “Press these prongs to the ghost and click this button here,” She showed Jack, “And it will discharge. Don’t do it while touching the prongs yourself. Hold the button longer for a stronger discharge if necessary, but a single press should suffice. It holds approximately three charges, so make them count. I’ll keep watch from now until 3am. You can take it from there until 7. I’ll wake you up when it’s your turn and hand off the gun.”

“You’ve got it Maddie,” Jack said. His face was a mask of grim determination. Maddie leaned in and kissed him tenderly. Jack hesitated a moment before returning it, pulling her close. Maddie broke the kiss to embrace him, resting her head on his shoulder, taking comfort in his arms.

“We’ll get through this,” She said. “You, I, and Vlad. We’ll get through this.”

“Of course we will,” Jack said tenderly.

Maddie didn’t voice her concerns over how long _this_ would take or the feasibility of doing sleep rotations long term. She let Jack’s optimism wash over her before pulling away and descending the stairs. Jack followed.

The door to the guest bedroom had been left open, and Maddie assumed that meant it was safe to enter.

“You’re not going to get changed too?” Vlad asked. He was standing just inside the room, wearing pink pinstriped pajamas, and his hair was down. Maddie hadn’t seen him with his hair down in years.

“We sleep in these,” Jack said. “They’re super comfortable, everyone should have a jumpsuit.”

“… of course you do,” Vlad said shaking his head slightly.

Maddie clicked on a lamp in the corner of the room and set it to its lowest setting. Vlad climbed stiffly into the bed and pulled the covers over himself. Maddie closed the bedroom door, and Jack sat in the recliner, kicking it back.

“G’night V-man!” Jack boomed. “Maddie’s first shift.”

“I feel like an animal in the zoo,” Vlad complained.

“Better this than the alternative,” Maddie said grimly, taking her place on the stool.

“Don’t remind me,” Vlad grumbled. “Seriously. Just don’t. I know you think you can keep me safe, but I’ve seen what this ghost can do. If it comes down to it, protect yourselves. Don’t expect me to be capable of protecting you.”

“It won’t come down to that,” Jack said. “There’s two of us here. We’re armed. You’re safe.”

Maddie wasn’t so sure and judging by Vlad’s stiff shoulders beneath the sheets, neither was he. Vlad had faced away from Maddie, toward Jack, and she was relieved at that. She had worried he would use the opportunity to stare at her. But she supposed the situation was serious enough to make even Vlad behave.

Just like that, a very boring night shift began. Maddie had nothing to do except fiddle with her phone, and there were only so many news stories that could hold her interest before her eyes began to droop. The phone’s clunky controls weren’t the best for Internet browsing either. Jack had started snoring at around 11:30. Vlad had taken longer. She wasn’t sure exactly when it’d happened, but she knew when she looked up five minutes after midnight the tension had finally left his shoulders and he seemed to have drifted off. It was approaching 1am, but Maddie still had two more hours to go.

She shifted slightly on her stool, clicking through another link on the news page. She would have preferred browsing ghost forums, but very few websites were optimized for phone display. She read through the dull text, trying to stay awake. Apparently, some politicians were already gearing up to run for president even though elections were a year away. Maddie was just getting to the end of the list of Republican hopefuls and starting on the Democrats when a sharp gasp shook her out of her reverie.

Maddie looked up quickly and it took her a few seconds to even process what she was seeing, because even though ghosts appeared out of nowhere all the time, this was somehow different. This was personal. Maddie’s blood was quickly turning to ice.

Vlad was laying on the bed, and laying underneath him, as though he had always been there, was the ghost who must be the Master. He looked how Vlad had described, and yet somehow seeing him in person was worse. The face was slightly too wide to be human, with pointed ears and eerily glowing black eyes and too pale skin that glowed very faintly blue but otherwise-  he looked human, horribly so. Worse, the Master’s right hand had closed threateningly around Vlad’s neck and the left rested on Vlad’s stomach, above the sheets. Vlad for his part had both hands on top of the one at his throat, though it seemed it wasn’t strangling him. Not yet.

Maddie got into a fighting stance.

“Jack, wake up!” She roared. Jack twitched violently where the chair was reclined. Maddie saw him take in the situation quickly and leap to his feet as well.

“Ah, ah,” The ghost warned. “I’ll strangle him.”

“That takes time,” Maddie growled. Despite her bravado, she couldn’t see how to safely get a good angle to zap the ghost without zapping Vlad. Maddie cursed herself for creating a weapon that required close contact. Part of her had hoped the intimidation factor would have been enough and it wouldn’t have come down to this. She wanted to tear the ghost apart molecule by molecule, but they weren’t ready for that. She had hoped the ghost would have made himself scarce until her research was complete.

The ghost whispered something into Vlad’s ear, inaudible.

“Don’t you talk to him spook,” Jack growled, but he maintained his position, fists clenched, looking at Maddie for guidance.

Vlad didn’t say anything but the sheets moved and as Maddie watched Vlad slowly kicked the sheets down until they were pooled at the foot of the bed. Vlad stared determinedly into the center of the room, bypassing the stares of both Maddie and Jack. With the sheets removed Maddie could see how closely the Master and Vlad were entangled, Vlad sitting between the ghost’s legs on top of the ghost’s minimal black loincloth. As Maddie watched The Master placed his legs over top of Vlad’s – which would make it difficult to extract him. Maddie realized with some trepidation that the Master must have ordered Vlad to kick off the sheets – and Vlad had complied.

“It may take time to slowly suffocate someone,” the Master agreed. “But if I accidentally crush his windpipe? That’s rather permanent. He’d die anyway.”

Maddie gnashed her teeth. That was true. She looked at Vlad, looking to see if he’d give her a signal that he was willing to risk it. But he was still staring into space.

“Hey, stop that!” Jack shouted, snapping Maddie’s gaze away from Vlad’s face, and as Maddie watched, Jack took a step forward. The Master’s response was immediate.

Vlad’s body arched and his hands scrambled frantically at the one around his throat as his oxygen supply was cut off. No time to think. Maddie surged forward, stun gun extended, aiming for The Master’s temple.

The prongs struck the metal headboard and Maddie just barely stopped herself from pressing the button to discharge. That was close. She had nearly electrocuted herself.

The Master was gone. Vanished. Vlad took deep frantic breaths from where he lay on the bed, and Maddie noticed the top button of his pajamas had been undone. That was likely what had inspired Jack’s ire.

Maddie started to pull back, when suddenly she was struck, a hand gripping the wrist that held the stun gun, and she was carried bodily backward onto the floor.

_The Master_ , her mind screamed. It was too late.

As her wrist struck the floor with brutal force her hand loosened around the stun gun and it was wrested from her grip. Before Maddie could so much as shout the device was driven forward into her gut – and discharged.

Maddie was aware as her body spasmed out of control, the pain was blinding, and the button was held, he wasn’t supposed to hold it, that was dangerous. Dan-danger-

The world was shaking apart and Maddie’s vision went black.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_12:53 am, Wednesday, April 18 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad awoke with a gasp, a hard body beneath him and a hand around his throat, and all he could think was that he knew this had been a bad idea.

From the corner of his eye he could see Maddie get into a fighting stance.

“Jack, wake up!” She roared. Vlad heard Jack complying. He couldn’t focus on that though. He was far more concerned with the hand around his throat, and his hands clung to it tightly. He could feel how powerful the hold was. He couldn’t break it.

“Ah, ah,” the Master tutted, and Vlad felt his chest vibrate with the words, and it was night and day between what it was like to wake up on top of Jack versus wake up on top of his assailant. “I’ll strangle him,” the Master warned.

“That takes time,” Maddie growled. Vlad couldn’t focus on her. He didn’t even want to look at her. He stared straight ahead and willed himself to breathe around the grip, which was uncomfortably tight.

“Kick off the sheets,” the man whispered hotly in Vlad’s ear. “Let them see us together.”

 Jack was talking, but Vlad tuned him out. The walls were closing in. This was worse. Coming to the Fentons had been a mistake after all. He was going to be assaulted, and it would be in front of the Fentons. It would be worse if he didn’t comply. It was always worse.

Vlad mechanically kicked the sheets down until they were pooled at the foot of the bed. Vlad stared determinedly into the center of the room, trying not to think of what the Master could possibly have planned. The Master placed his legs over top of Vlad’s, and Vlad felt trapped. The Master wasn’t aroused, so there were limits to how much he could humiliate Vlad and how, but Vlad wasn’t deluding himself. Whatever the Master came up with would be unpleasant.

“It may take time to slowly suffocate someone,” the Master agreed, and Vlad tried not to shudder. “But if I accidentally crush his windpipe? That’s rather permanent. He’d die anyway.”

Vlad tried to ignore the words. He was stuck. There was nothing he could do. However, he couldn’t prevent a slight flinch as he felt the Master reach up and undo the top button of his pajamas. This was really happening.

“Hey, stop that!” Jack shouted. The Master’s response was immediate.

Vlad couldn’t breathe as the hand closed down around his throat. Vlad’s body arched and his hands scrambled frantically at the one cutting off his air supply. Vlad tried to kick his feet, but they were stuck under the Master’s. He was going to die.

And suddenly The Master was gone. Vanished. Vlad took deep frantic breaths from where he lay on the bed and saw Maddie’s face above his. She looked confused, some kind of weapon extended into the space the Master had been. Vlad had a moment to process the scene, which meant the Master did too. Maddie had laid her cards on the table. The weapon was visible. This was bad.

Maddie started to pull back, when suddenly Vlad saw something burst forth from his own body and she was struck, and the Master and Maddie tumbled to the floor.

Vlad frantically sat up, and as he looked he saw Maddie’s body writhing beneath the Master’s uncontrollably as the weapon was presumably used.

“Stop that!” Jack and Vlad shouted in perfect unison.

Vlad was closer. He jumped onto the Master’s back, wrapping his hands around his throat, trying to get him to stop-

And the body disappeared beneath him and suddenly Vlad found himself on top of Maddie, his hands to either side of her face as she twitched, eyes vacant, stun gun, for that was what it had to be, falling to the floor at his side.

Vlad was quick to remove himself. The danger was within him again. Jack had rounded the bed.

“Maddie,” he called out, and Vlad could hear the anguish there, and it was genuine, and heartbreaking, and Vlad’s heart clenched in response to it. She was like that because of him.

“Wh-Wh-“ Maddie was trying to speak. Jack bent down to reach her, and Vlad had a sudden sharp feeling of foreboding.

“Jack-“ Vlad began to shout. Too late.

Vlad felt a knee collide with his gut before he saw it and he was knocked backward, landing on the floor, his head hitting the edge of the mattress. But he hadn’t been the Master’s target. The Master grabbed the stun gun from where it had fallen and quickly drove it into the base of Jack’s spine.

Jack was not small, and he barely managed to fall away from Maddie, as he joined her on the floor. The Master was holding the button too long, Jack was going to-

“Huh. It stopped working,” the Master said. He stood up, dropping the stun gun. “You humans and your inventions. So finicky.”

Jack was twitching. Vlad looked at Jack and Maddie, eyes wide. Maddie seemed to be trying to pull herself out of it, her hands gripping weakly at the carpet. Jack looked a mess. Vlad wasn’t entirely certain if he was conscious.

The Master kicked Jack over onto his back, and much to Vlad’s alarm, the Master began unzipping Jack’s jumpsuit.

“What- what are you doing?” Vlad asked tentatively, not quite having the mental strength to get to his feet.

“Teaching,” The Master answered. “I was perfectly reasonable. I told him you were mine after 11. He chose to defy me.”

“That’s not necessary,” Vlad felt himself say. “I’m sure he’s learned his lesson.”

“Perhaps,” The Master said, determinedly yanking the full body jumpsuit down until he’d succeeded in wrestling it past Jack’s buttocks, and to his knees. “Perhaps not,” the Master continued, and pulled down Jack’s underwear too. Jack groaned weakly in protest. He was conscious then.

“Stop,” Vlad said, surprising himself as he struggled to his feet.

“Relax pet, you’re the only one for me. I’m just going to make him play fetch with this zapper here,” The Master said, reclaiming it from the floor.

Vlad paled in understanding. “Don’t.”

“What was that pet?”

Vlad was trembling like a leaf in the wind. What exactly was he doing? He wasn’t sure. All Vlad knew was if he did nothing, Jack would be sodomized with the two-pronged gun, and then Vlad would be raped. If he did something, Jack might _not_ be sodomized with the gun – and Vlad would be raped. Either way, Vlad’s fate was unchanged, so why should he allow Jack…

“Answer me, pet. What happened to your words?” The Master grinned sardonically. “I thought you wouldn’t risk your life for anyone.”

“Leave him alone,” Vlad said weakly. “Please.”

The Master paused, then abandoned the stun gun and moved to Vlad’s side, wrapping his arm around Vlad’s shoulder like they were co-conspirators.

“I see what you’re doing Vlad,” The Master whispered in his ear. “You don’t think you’re sacrificing anything at all by pleading for me to spare him. And that’s… boring. Let’s mix things up a bit.”

The Master leaned into Vlad and began slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

“You can pretend to put up a fight,” The Master purred quietly, so quietly no one else could possibly hear. “Right here and now. And I will tie you to the bed. And I will fuck your fat friend with my fist. And yes, you heard that correctly.”

Vlad froze. He could practically hear the blood rushing in his ears. That couldn’t be survivable… could it?

“I’ll use that lube you bought – and you got a larger container this time, good boy. And I’ll work my fingers into him, one. At. A. Time. Until my whole hand fits.”

Vlad was going to throw up. _Shut up. Shut up, shut up-_

“And I will keep going until either Jack or Maddie awaken enough to stop me, at which point I’ll call it a night and let the three of you lick your wounds in peace, until 11 o’clock tomorrow night when you’re mine again.”

Vlad swallowed thickly.

“Or,” the Master continued in his same quiet tone. “You can get on your knees, right here, and put that pretty mouth of yours to work. You still owe me for sucking you off. You keep going until I climax, or they recover enough to fight, and again I leave you to lick your wounds in peace until 11 o’clock tomorrow night.”

Vlad’s shirt was completely undone and the Master ran his hand over his chest possessively.

“Choose. You have a ten count. If I reach zero, I fist your friend by default. Ten…”

Seriously?

“Nine…”

Vlad wasn’t sure he could even give a blow job.

“Eight…”

Jack would survive, he might need an emergency room visit, but he’d survive.

“Seven…”

Jack would never know what Vlad had done.

“Six…”

Maddie wouldn’t know what he had done either.

“Five…”

And really, Jack should be grateful he bought that lube, he wasn’t going to buy it, it felt like giving up to buy it.

“Four…”

Really, it was no decision at all.

“Three…”

Why was he still thinking about this?

“Two…”

Jack had wronged him in so many ways, he _deserved_ it even, he did-

“One…”

Vlad would be worse than Jack if he let his friend endure this fate.

Vlad dropped to his knees. He blinked slowly, breathing heavily, stunned by his own decision. That last thought though… Not that Vlad would be worse than Jack, Vlad knew in his heart he already was. At least Jack had never deliberately harmed him, just obliviously. Vlad had been deliberately ordering Jack’s death for almost a year. He didn’t drop to his knees because of that.

Vlad found himself on the floor because he had thought of Jack as his friend. Not as a pawn, not as an enemy, not as an annoyance, not as ‘the man who caused the accident that ruined his life’. A friend. And he was stunned to realize that he meant it.

“Heh. I’m actually a bit surprised,” the Master said, grabbing Vlad’s hair, and Vlad scrambled on his knees to get in front of the Master proper, his back to where Jack and Maddie were still struggling to recover on the floor.

“So am I,” Vlad mumbled softly. He was facing a tented black loincloth. And then a drawstring was pulled and he was facing an erect cock. Right.

Vlad knew conceptually what he had to do, but actually doing it was another matter. Penises look weird, Vlad decided dazedly. The thing had a life of its own, large, proud and dripping precum. It was a darker color than the rest of The Master’s body and textured with black veins. It had a smell too, an animal musk, that Vlad really didn’t want to think about nor get closer to.

“I’m waiting,” The voice was dark, threatening. Vlad found himself wishing his hair would be grabbed, he would be pulled forward by force, his jaw pried open because this – this passive compliance- it was so much more difficult to endure. But he had to do something, or Jack…

Vlad edged forward a bit on his knees. He could do this. He could. _Don’t think about what’s behind you, just focus on what’s in front, focus…_

Vlad reached out tentatively with his hand and grasped the member, guiding it toward his mouth. After a brief moment of hesitation Vlad opened his mouth and closed it around the tip.

The taste hit him immediately and Vlad struggled with the instinct to pull away.

A hand fisted at the back of his head, keeping him in place.

“Easy now. Mind your teeth. Use your tongue.”

Vlad wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing, but he had to do something, so he moved his tongue experimentally on the underside of the cock. Like the Master had done for him. Vlad wasn’t sure he could take it any deeper like the Master had – that seemed dangerous with something this large – so he sucked instead.

The Master let out a throaty moan, so it seemed that had been a good move.

Vlad moved his right hand around the rest of it, varying the pressure as he sucked. The faster the monster got off, the faster he would go away, so Vlad shut his eyes tightly and focused on the task at hand, listening carefully for how the Master was breathing to gauge if he was being effective.

The Master’s breath sounds started picking up dramatically after a few minutes of work. He bucked his hips, not much, and Vlad readjusted. It was manageable. Vlad knew he was drooling around the intrusion but he wasn’t aware of any way to stop it from happening, and he didn’t want to lose his momentum. Didn’t want to have to start over. Vlad redoubled his efforts. Almost there. Almost-

The hand that had been resting on Vlad’s head suddenly pulled him forward, and Vlad made a strangled choking noise around the obstruction that was suddenly shoved far too deep into his throat, and he was going to choke-

Vlad felt and tasted the results of his captor’s orgasm as the Master pulled out, leaving Vlad hunched over, coughing, and spitting, trying not to vomit on the floor.

“Sorry, pet,” the Master said, rubbing Vlad’s back as Vlad tried to regain control of himself. “I didn’t mean to get rough. You did a good job for me. Such a good boy.”

The hand disappeared and Vlad was facing an empty space.

Vlad continued to cough and wiped his mouth with the back of his shaking hand. That had been beyond degrading. Vlad’s skin crawled and he shuddered. He prayed the Master wouldn’t demand his active participation again, because he wasn’t sure he could endure another session like that.

Jack and Maddie were in the room, Vlad suddenly recalled.

Vlad lurched unevenly to his feet and turned around. Were they alright?

Jack was still more or less naked where he had been left, eyes squeezed shut, breathing unevenly, but Maddie- she was looking right at him. She had managed to turn herself around, hands dug into the carpet, like she had been attempting to crawl his way. Damn it. She’d definitely seen his humiliation.

“V-Vlad-“ she tried to speak. Vlad’s heart broke. This was no time to feel sorry for himself, Maddie and Jack needed him.

“How many volts was that thing set to discharge?” Vlad asked, quickly buttoning his shirt closed, and walking forward. He grabbed Maddie’s outstretched hands. “With me,” he said, and pulled.

Maddie seemed to struggle getting her feet underneath her, and for a moment Vlad feared he may drop her, but after some stumbling she managed to get her balance, clinging tightly to Vlad’s hands as a lifeline.

“Do you need to go to the hospital?” Vlad asked, concerned at the way her body trembled. “I could take you, and Jack-“

“We’ll be… f-fine. Just…. Muscle weakness, it’ll – it’ll pass. Jack-“

Maddie tried to look over her shoulder desperately to where Jack was, and nearly unbalanced herself.

“Easy,” Vlad tried to say soothingly, though it came out sounding more frightened than anything else. “Look, I can’t – I could carry you back to your room, but Jack is too heavy. If you could just- let me help you-“

Maddie looked into Vlad’s eyes and her expression was so anguished he immediately looked away. He wasn’t sure if she looked that way because of Jack, him, herself – or the whole unfortunate set of circumstances. All Vlad could think was that it was his fault Maddie looked like that.

Vlad pulled Maddie’s hands so that she could drape one arm around his shoulder and she could lean on him as she walked. Vlad was sure he could have lifted her- and equally sure she wouldn’t have appreciated it.

“Come on,” Vlad murmured and he started to walk, Maddie unevenly and clumsily walking with him. Vlad took her toward the far side of the bed, he didn’t want to walk Jack any further than he had to.

“Is he g-gone? Safe?”

“Until 11 o’clock tomorrow night, apparently,” Vlad said, helping Maddie sit on the edge of the bed, and helping her lift her legs into it as well. She was so weak… He helped her lay back against the pillow. He wished he had the strength to get Jack to the master bedroom, placing them in the same bed where the Master had been so recently seemed somewhat perverse, but it was far better than leaving them on the floor.

“Jack-“ Maddie said again, looking desperately to where her husband lay on the floor.

“I know,” Vlad answered.

Vlad approached Jack tentatively. His breaths were concerning, they were still somewhat uneven, and he had been shocked for a whole lot longer than Maddie. Vlad quickly placed two fingers at the pulse point in Jack’s throat and was relieved to find his pulse was steady, if not a bit rapid.

This wasn’t going to be easy, but Vlad couldn’t leave him as he was.

“Easy, you’re ok,” Vlad tried but winced at his own words. Comfort wasn’t something he was good at.

Jack opened his eyes and looked at Vlad, but his gaze was unfocused.

Vlad wanted to help Jack get dressed but knew he wouldn’t be able to get the garments past his waist if Jack lied on the floor like that, he was too heavy for Vlad to shift.

“Jack?” Vlad asked. “I’m going to help you stand. Lean on me, alright?”

Jack nodded slightly. Vlad squatted down and pulled Jack’s arm around his shoulders.

“Alright, I’ve got you, with me now,” Vlad said, struggling to stand and pull Jack with him. Jack for his part used his free hand to brace himself against the wall, and with much straining, Jack was finally vertical, leaning against the wall. Vlad panted, out of breath. Jack was no light weight.

“Can you hold yourself up?”

Jack was breathing heavily but he nodded mutely. Vlad slowly disentangled himself from Jack’s arm and reached down to pull up the underwear that had pooled at Jack’s feet. Vlad felt infinitely better once Jack was covered up, but he wasn’t sure if the effect was the same for his friend. Friend. Vlad would have to get used to that. _Don’t forget it. Friend_. Vlad grabbed the pool of orange jumpsuit and started working that up as well, pulling Jack’s one free arm through it. The other jumpsuit arm dangled empty, and Vlad didn’t want to risk Jack falling over to get it back in place. He’d finish the work once Jack was in the bed.

“With me, big man,” Vlad said, getting under Jack’s arm once more. “I’m going to try to support you, but honestly, if you fall, we’ll probably both fall. Think you can walk?”

“Y-yes.”

Vlad felt a rush of relief. Jack was talking and making sense. That was good.

“Ok. Here we go.”

They shuffled slowly, Vlad being extra careful to make sure Jack had his bearings before daring to take another step. Jack’s whole body was trembling weakly, and it made moving an ordeal.

When they finally reached the bed, Jack managed to sit on the edge, though he half fell there.

“Hold on,” Vlad murmured, grabbing the other jumpsuit sleeve and pulling Jack’s other arm through it. Vlad struggled a bit with the zipper – it had bent at an odd angle as Jack sat, but eventually he managed to get it started and pull it closed over Jack’s white undershirt.

“There,” Vlad said finally. “Let’s get you to sleep.”

Manipulating Jack into a lying position was far harder than it had been to help Maddie, but eventually, together, Vlad and Jack managed. Maddie reached out and draped her arms across Jack’s chest the moment he was settled, and she seemed to relax instantly against him.

“Thanks, Vlad” she said weakly.

Vlad swallowed past the sudden lump that appeared in his throat. “No problem.”

Vlad pulled up the bedsheets on Jack’s side before doing the same for Maddie’s, not quite tucking them in, but close enough.

Without really thinking about what he was doing, Vlad grabbed the stool that Maddie had been sitting in earlier and pulled it closer to the bed, sitting at Jack’s side, ignoring the soreness the hard seat caused.

“’M… ‘m sorry, V-V-man,” Jack said weakly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Vlad insisted.

“Said…” Jack tried again. “Said I… I would…”

“There’s nothing you could have done that would have stopped this. If anything, it’s my fault for not insisting you leave me alone for the night. I was a coward,” Vlad said, smiling self-depreciatingly.

Jack frowned deep at that. “No…”

“Sleep,” Vlad commanded. “Recover. I’ll stay until you fall asleep. I promise.”

Jack blinked rapidly, like he wanted to say something else, his expression distraught. But after a few seconds he seemed to lose some sort of internal struggle and closed his eyes. Vlad watched the rise and fall of the sheets, content Jack was breathing. He would watch over the two of them. Amps were the dangerous bit of electricity, volts just temporarily incapacitated. Since they survived the initial shock, they would probably be fine, but Vlad wasn’t going to take any risks. With as heavy as Jack was, there was always some possibility of heart trouble after a shock like that.

Vlad watched Maddie pull herself closer to Jack as she settled in to sleep, and though it inspired an aching sadness within him, the rage he likely would have felt mere days ago did not manifest. Maddie had suffered enough because of Vlad. Jack too. No more. No matter what it took. Vlad would make sure the Master would not harm them… and Vlad would make sure he no longer harmed them himself. That part would be harder. When Jack had apologized back at the Mayor’s mansion, Jack had said he’d wronged Vlad in many more ways than Vlad had wronged him. There had been a point in time immediately after the accident where that would have been correct, but now? After a year of trying to kill Jack, now? The roles were reversed.

_“If we’re going to be friends again, and truly friends, not just playing at it, we need open, honest communication.”_

Jack’s words were in Vlad’s head. True friends, huh? Was that even possible anymore? With what he’d done… it would take an eternity to even confess it all, but could he?

Friends… Vlad looked at Jack and Maddie, his heart in his throat. How could he even dare to call himself their friend? He was deluding himself, they didn’t even know him, not anymore, Jack was right, how could they possibly be friends if they didn’t even know who he was?

Vlad didn’t need friends… he didn’t…. but that thought cut deeper than any others.

Vlad settled in on the stool, determined to keep vigil, alone with his thoughts. It would be a long night.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

_9:18 am, Wednesday, April 18 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie groaned softly. Her head was killing her. Her whole body ached and her muscles twitched uncooperatively as she struggled to sit up, Jack’s snoring body next to her. What-

And then it all came back. She remembered their horribly failed attempt to attack the Master. Remembered her husband collapsing to the ground, the way he had been breathing, how for a moment she feared his heart would give out and he would die- the ghost pulling at Jack’s clothes, undressing him, and her stark terror as she couldn’t move, her body floundered, couldn’t help, couldn’t-

And then the Master had moved away. Maddie hadn’t known what was going on but realized it couldn’t be good. She had struggled, arms twitching, legs uncooperative, trying to turn around, trying to find the Master, trying to keep an eye on her enemy even if it couldn’t keep her safe-

It had taken her an eternity to turn around. And when she finally had-

Maddie closed her eyes tightly. It was an image that would never leave her she was sure.

She had frozen at the sight. She was too weak from the shock, there was nothing she could do. The Master had looked her right in the eye and _smirked_ , before moaning lewdly. Maddie winced at the memory. And when it had ended, when it was over, Vlad had turned and looked at her and he hadn’t looked upset, or devastated, or broken, or any of the things Maddie had expected, he just looked so _relieved_ to see her alert and awake-

Maddie shuddered and clung tighter to Jack’s arm. This was too much for anyone to bear. Not Vlad, and not them. Worse, she had made no progress with the anti-ectoplasm. That fight had shown just how much the ghost was capable of, and with him darting in and out of Vlad like some kind of demented pop-up book, it would be next to impossible to injure him via ordinary means. What could be done?

Maddie wiped angrily at a tear that escaped her eye. Tears helped no one. Once the Master was dead, and Vlad and Jack were both safe, once her kids were safe, then she could cry. Speaking of Vlad, where was he?

Maddie sat up fully. The stool was unoccupied.

For a moment she panicked, but then she noticed a familiar scent wafting through the doorway…

“Bacon…?” Maddie asked aloud. She glanced at Jack. She didn’t want to wake him, but if he woke up and he was alone…

“Jack,” Maddie whispered, shaking her husband’s shoulder.

Instead of his usual morning babbling about ghosts, he groaned deeply and buried his face in his pillow. Maddie bit her lip, considering, but decided to give it another go.

“Breakfast, dear,” she said, shaking him a bit more.

Jack opened an eye blurrily. “Vlad…” he groaned.

“He’s alright,” Maddie reassured. As alright as he could be anyway.

Jack sat up slowly, clutching his head.

“Hurzz” He complained, and a slight tremor was still visible in his muscles.

“I know,” Maddie replied. “A stun gun probably wasn’t the best of ideas.”

“Was a good idea,” Jack said groggily, slowly moving to climb from the bed. “Jus’ that the ghost was stronger than we thought.”

Maddie climbed out of bed and steadied him as he stood. They stood there for a few seconds, getting their bearings.

As soon as Jack started to move, Maddie followed, at his side, making sure he was alright, but she needn’t have worried. The longer he walked the steadier his gait. Maddie still felt a bit like she was trying to move through a pool of ectoplasm, and her motions were somewhat uncoordinated, but she could tell she was recovering.

When she reached the kitchen, she saw Vlad, as she expected, moving about the stove, still clad in pinstriped pajamas and hair let down.

He turned as he heard them approach.

His eye was still black, his face bruised, nose covered in tape, and the marks on his neck had turned into a mottled green mess, but he smiled when he saw the both of them, wide and relieved, like his own troubles were inconsequential. Maddie wasn’t sure she had seen him do much at all but smirk ever since they’d reunited at the reunion, but between yesterday at dinner, when he’d opened up about his family and reminisced about the college days without bitterness, and today, Vlad seemed to be a lot more open. She just wished he could have been that way before these unfortunate circumstances.

“Sorry I left for a moment,” Vlad said, returning to the stove. “Since you’re down, we can eat here. I made bacon, sausage, and eggs. I raided your fridge, I hope that’s alright.”

“That’s what the food’s for,” Maddie said. Maddie noticed Jack open his mouth to say something, but she quickly placed a hand on his chest to silence him. It could wait until Vlad was seated. If they talked to him now, he may feel cornered.

“Almost done,” Vlad said. “Scrambled eggs for Jack, sunnyside up for myself and Maddie, I do hope your preferences haven’t changed.”

“That’s right,” Maddie said, and she sat at the kitchen table. Jack followed.

After a minute of silence, Vlad turned and started divvying out the food. Maddie was impressed. He had even done the bacon separately, extra crispy for her, still flexible for himself and Jack, and she was just so impressed he remembered little things such as that, and she felt herself tear up all over again. She was feeling far more emotional than normal, but she supposed that was a side effect of the circumstances.

Maddie poked the yolk of her egg with her fork and let it coat her sausages as she ate. Perfect.

“Your cooking is excellent, as always,” she complimented.

“Thanks,” Vlad said, and he moved to pour beverages, coffee for her and Jack, tea for himself. And then he handed her a bottle of pain killers from the counter, child proofed cap removed. Maddie shook out two pills gratefully and did the same for Jack.

“Do you still knit?” Maddie asked Vlad, striving for normalcy.

“I haven’t in years,” Vlad replied. “I might get back into it though.”

“Between your cooking, knitting, and Jack’s needlepoint, I think you’ve out-domesticed me.”

Vlad laughed a bit at that. “I think you’ve outdone yourself with the jumpsuits though. Your design, yes?”

“Yes,” Maddie confirmed. They lapsed into silence. If it weren’t for the events of the previous night, it would have been a comfortable one.

“Listen,” Vlad said finally, setting down his silverware, food only half eaten. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I can’t stay here. I’m putting you all at risk. After breakfast, I’ll gather my stuff and move back to my mansion.”

“Absolutely not,” Jack snarled. Maddie was startled at the aggressive tone of his voice.

“Jack, be reasonable,” Vlad said somewhat desperately. “This is my problem, and there’s no need to get you more involved-“

“This is _our_ problem,” Jack insisted. “We’ll come up with a better plan, we’ll keep you safe-“

“YOU CAN’T KEEP ME SAFE!” Vlad roared, leaping to his feet, and Maddie jumped. Vlad’s face was flushed, furious, as he glared at Jack. “I can’t take it if you get hurt again, and I won’t be able to live with myself if I give into weakness and let the Master hurt you in my place. I was given the opportunity yesterday. I almost took it. I was this- close-“ Vlad held his fingers a fraction of an inch apart, “to taking it. You mean a lot to me, the both of you, even you Jack, more than I thought, more than I’d been willing to admit to myself, more than I’d been willing to consider. I can’t take it if you get hurt, not now, not when…. Not when we’re – not when we’re finally getting along, and I… I just can’t.”

Vlad finished, slumping back into his seat. “I can’t.”

He looked so lost, but worst part was Maddie knew she wasn’t willing to risk a vigil like that again either. Not that she wasn’t willing to help Vlad, but he had a point- Jack and Maddie’s presence had likely made things worse. Maddie was nothing if not practical, and she knew Vlad was the same way.

“Vlad,” Maddie said. “I agree, it would be a bad idea to try to keep guard over you at night again,”

Jack made a noise of protest.

“But,” Maddie said, silencing Jack, “You have to stay here. It sounded like the assaults never stopped the instant you left our house. We are doing something. Let us keep an eye out for you during the day. We’ll… we’ll back off at night if that’s how it has to be. But we’ll never give up trying to fix this. We won’t. Stay.”

“… I can’t.”

“We could try to involve the police then?” Maddie tried. “They have more firepower, maybe they could-”

“They can’t help.”

“Alright,” Maddie said. “Then stay. You say you can’t take it if we got hurt in your place. How do you think we’d feel if we knew you were getting hurt all day because we let you leave?”

Vlad poked at his food moodily. “That’s not… that’s not the same.”

“And why not?” Maddie asked. “It’s not like you asked for the Master to torment you.”

“Maybe…” Vlad said, and his voice was small. “Maybe I deserve it.”

“Bullshit,” Jack roared, pounding the table. Coffee and tea leapt into the air out of their mugs, but somehow didn’t spill. “ _No one_ deserves something like this, no one-“

“I’m just like the Master. Not a rapist, but…. I force my desires on other people. You wouldn’t let me stay if you knew what I’d done, who I am-“

“Try us,” Jack growled, and his voice was deadly serious. Maddie thought this was getting ridiculous. Cornering her in the Rockies was indeed bad, and it had made her incredibly uncomfortable. She didn’t think Vlad would have forced her, but he had certainly tried to coerce her. Maddie hadn’t forgiven him – he hadn’t apologized, why should she – she had allowed a temporary cease fire since he had helped Danny, and Jack liked him- but if it would put him at ease-

“Vlad, if you’re sorry about it, I forgive you for that stunt you pulled in Colorado,” Maddie said.

“Would you forgive me if you knew I sent the letter from Dalv and hired the ghost pilot to cause the plane to go down over my house?”

Maddie faltered at that.

“…You what?” She asked. She had thought it had been a crime of opportunity, but then again, those gift baskets…

“That’s not all,” Vlad continued. “While you were there I sent an army of ghost animals to kill Jack. I also sent ghost animals to kill your son. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t done before. I sent ghosts through your portal when you first created it too. I hoped to test Jack. I hoped they would kill him.”

Silence reigned, except it was different this time.

“I can’t even begin to explain to you all the things you should hate me for. Jack says I have a lot of things to forgive him for, but really, it pales in comparison… I stole from the Ghost King. That’s why he invaded Amity Park, and I stole your ecto-skeleton in the resulting chaos. I recklessly performed cloning experiments using your son as a template and threw out the semi-functional clones like they were trash, because they weren’t perfect, and I disregarded the human consciousnesses they developed – I deliberately infected Sam and Tucker with ecto-acne to try to get Danny Phantom to care enough to cure it. I gave the red-hunter all of her ghost fighting equipment specifically to make your son’s life hell. She’s a teenage girl, and his classmate. The only consideration I’ve given to the danger I’ve put her in is worrying what might happen if she expired prematurely and I had to coach another one.”

“In addition I… hired… the Wisconsin ghost to overshadow Jack at the reunion. I wanted to make you hate him, Maddie. Amity Park didn’t elect me Mayor either. I used ghosts to overshadow the population and vote for me, and I used the Wisconsin ghost again to try to make myself look good to the public, and Danny got hurt in the process. I also used ghosts to steal my first million, and overshadow millionaires to make them sell their companies to Vladco. None of my fortune was earned by my own talents. So as you can see…”

Vlad got to his feet. “You really have no reason at all to shelter me. None whatsoever. I do hope you’ll continue your work with the anti-ectoplasm. I’ll pay you. And I’ll stop trying to kill Jack – stop trying to kill Danny- stop trying to steal you, Maddie… and just- just remove myself from your lives. You deserve better.”

His voice cracked. Maddie stared in shock. Tried to _kill_ Jack? Tried to _kill_ her kids? Or… or just Danny?

Vlad walked around the table resolutely toward the stairs, but as he passed Jack’s chair-

“… Let go of me Jack.”

Jack had grabbed Vlad’s hand as he passed, and Vlad stood there, back to the both of them. Jack clung tighter.

“You did all that…. Because I infected you with ecto-acne?”

“No,” Vlad said, not turning around. “Some of it, I did just because I could, because I’d gone a bit mad with power, but I … I started down this path because I thought you’d stolen Maddie from me. I thought if I hadn’t gotten ecto-acne, she would have been mine, not yours. But that… that was foolish, wasn’t it? You can’t win a woman’s heart the same way you win a game of chess.”

“V-man…” Jack said slowly. Vlad’s shoulders were shaking.

“Jack…. I … I forgive you. And I do, actually… mean it this time. I… forgive you for causing the accident, and everything that followed. The one thing you said you weren’t sorry for was falling in love with Maddie, and … well I can see why, I know why, she’s a wonderful woman and she loves you. But… what I’ve done? I’m sorry, truly I am, but I hadn’t felt sorry, not one bit, until these recent incidents with the Master. And if it took me _that_ to realize it – what legitimacy do these feelings have anyway? … I’m a realistic man. I know I can’t be forgiven. I had wanted to patch things up with you, I wanted…”

Vlad pulled a bit in Jack’s grip, but Jack held fast. Vlad didn’t turn around.

“I wanted to be friends again but… But I couldn’t. Because you said you wanted us to be friends, and not just play at it. Well here’s me, all cards on the table. A man who only sees people as tools to be used who suddenly snapped and decided he wanted friends after all, when it was too late. No more games, no more tricks, and you’re left with someone you only thought you knew. Now let me go, Jack. Please.”

Jack did. And Vlad walked away.

***

_9:42 am, Wednesday, April 18 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad’s shoulders shook as he walked away from Jack, away from Maddie, away from the friendship he now so desperately wanted, desperately needed, but couldn’t have. Because he’d ruined that the instant he had used his ghost powers for personal gain. The instant he let lust for power become more important than interpersonal connections. He’d destroyed it entirely when he’d sent those two ectopusses to Jack’s nearly a year ago. The only one responsible for Vlad’s misery was himself.

_And why did I do it? For Maddie?_ Vlad angrily gathered suitcases. _How can I claim to love her when I don’t even know what love is? It would be naïve to say mother loved me. Jack and Maddie probably did, as a friend, and my own ambition just warped and destroyed that didn’t it?_

Keeping quiet hadn’t been an option. Like all Vlad did, coming clean hadn’t been wholly altruistic. He’d done a lot of thinking as he stood vigil throughout the night. Every time he thought of Jack as a friend, he’d felt like a knife was cutting into his heart when he realized how much he had tried to hurt Jack – and how Jack didn’t know. Thinking of either of them filled him with an aching sadness when he realized they would just leave if they knew him, truly knew him… he couldn’t have been friends with them if he kept quiet, not really, it wouldn’t have been genuine and it would have slowly killed him, and he would have given up on the idea entirely and gone back to his foolishly shortsighted whims of damn _conquest._ Telling them though… telling them had the same end result, but at least Vlad could feel better about it. Could be free of the guilt that had started slowly weighing down on him the more he compared his own corrupt desires to those of the Master.

Vlad moodily grabbed the cat carrier. Where was Celeste? He wouldn’t leave without his cat. She was incapable of love too, no animal could manage it, but she was affectionate towards him, and he’d take that, it would have to be enough-

“That was brave of you,” a familiar voice mocked, an oppressive presence forming far too close to his skin. Vlad felt a feeling of glum resignation overcome him.

“You’re not supposed to be here until 11.”

“I’m leaving you alone, aren’t I?”

“You’re talking to me. Go away.”

“I didn’t expect you to lie to them to save them. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“I didn’t lie to them,” Vlad said, changing into a suit. He needed a shower, but he didn’t want to linger at the Fentons. He couldn’t even bring himself to be embarrassed changing in the Master’s presence – the ghost was always with him whether he could see him or not. “Leave.”

“You know, trying to kill Jack was bad enough, you didn’t have to make up a whole bunch of other stuff on top of it.”

“I didn’t make up any of it,” Vlad snarled. “I really am just that bad of a person.”

“If you had really tried to kill their son, he wouldn’t be trying to save you. Jazz especially seemed pretty adamant about helping you.”

“Hero complexes, the lot of them,” Vlad shifted uncomfortably.

“Awe, this is adorable,” the Master chuckled.

“What is?” Vlad asked half-heartedly, removing the tube of lube from its hiding place in the nightstand. A far larger tube that wouldn’t fit in his breast pocket. He may need it. He shoved it in his suitcase too.

“It’s adorable that you’re still hoping they’ll forgive you.”

Vlad paused. He was. How selfish was he? After all he’d done, hoping for something like that was not only arrogant, it was delusional.

“Go away,” Vlad said again.

“Sure, but I’m not happy with you for removing my entertainment. It was funny to watch Jack and Maddie struggle with this. And to think, you took the week off. With no distractions we can really…. Get to know each other.”

The Master reached forward and cupped Vlad’s cheek affectionately. Vlad stared dispassionately, determined not to react in any way. The Master grinned wider and vanished.

***

Vlad walked down the stairs, suitcases in hand, and placed them at the landing. He’d call his driver as soon as he found Celeste.

Vlad looked up, only to see Jack stalking angrily toward him, gritting his teeth, hands balled into fists.

“Jack-“ Vlad started, unsure what he would say.

Jack made the decision for him.

A fist connected with Vlad’s gut with enough force to completely wind him, and Vlad doubled over, retching.

“That-“ Jack snarled, and his voice sounded tinny to Vlad’s ears, “Is for trying to murder my family.”

“I…” Vlad swallowed, trying to stand properly. “I deserved-“

Jack backhanded him with his left hand, and Vlad staggered with the force of it as it hit his right check, and if his right eye ended up blackened in addition to his left wouldn’t that be peachy-

“And that, was for trying to murder me.”

_He’s going to kill me_ , Vlad thought numbly as Jack grabbed his suit, hoisting Vlad into the air. _He’s going to kill me and I don’t care, as long as it’s him, he has that right-_

“We should turn you over to the police,” Jack snarled, and Vlad gripped Jack’s fists tightly, dangling in space, and he remembered when the Master had held him just like this. _At least my pants aren’t around my ankles…_

“Maybe you should…” Vlad agreed hesitantly, looking away. If that’s what Jack wanted… Jack shook him violently and Vlad’s eyes snapped back.

“Good. Look me in the eye, Vlad,” Jack snarled.

“Jack, I want to hurt him too, believe me I do, but you can’t just-“ Maddie protested.

“You are not going to attempt to kill me, Danny, Jazz, or anyone else ever again,” Jack ignored her. “Promise?”

“Of course I won’t, I-“

Jack shook him again, and Vlad hung on for dear life.

“I just need a ‘yes, I promise’ out of you, or a ‘No, I refuse’. Understand?”

Vlad’s mouth went dry.

“I… understand.”

“You won’t try to kill anyone ever again. Promise?”

“…. Yes, I promise.” Vlad said meekly. He felt the fool that Jack even had to ask that of him. He couldn’t imagine how Jack would react if he was a murderer and not merely an attempted murderer.

“You won’t hire anyone, ghost or human to do it either, promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“You will put forth your resignation as mayor, effective immediately. Promise?”

“Yes, I promise,” Vlad said. It was a small price to pay. Ruling Amity Park had brought him very minimal satisfaction anyway, dealing with public opinion on a constant basis was such a pain…

“You will make sure this red hunter’s parents know what the hell she’s doing and make yourself known as her benefactor, and then cut all ties. Will you?”

“…Yes I will.” That was an easy one, Valerie had served her purpose, and Valerie already knew he was her benefactor. He wasn’t sure about her father though…

“You will pay Sam and Tucker a settlement of their choosing for deliberately putting them in harm’s way, and then stay the hell out of their lives. Will you?”

“Yes, I will.” Money was no object, and it would be easy to stay out of their lives if he was gong to stay away from Danny.

“You will return our ecto-skeleton.”

Vlad paled.

“I can’t, it was destroyed, Danny Phantom destroyed it…”

Vlad cowered at the look Jack was giving him. Like he wasn’t sure whether he could trust him. Jack had always trusted him. It was obvious he had no reason to now, but as illogical as it was, it still stung.

“Alright, you can’t. These clones you rejected… what happened to them?”

“They melted,” Vlad said.

“All of them?” Jack pressed.

“I… I’m not sure.”

“How many may still be alive?”

“Just… just the one. Danielle…”

Jack frowned at the name.

“You can’t just create a human being and toss her in the street like yesterday’s garbage, Vlad! You _will_ find her, and you _will_ do whatever it takes to stabilize her, find her a home, and keep her safe, _especially_ if she manifests ghost like symptoms from her ectoplasmic base like you were talking about earlier. Promise?”

That would be difficult. But not impossible. He’d need Danny’s morph… no, no he didn’t. That was his pride talking, his need to make a clone of ‘Danny’ the perfect half ghost son, he’d told himself, a ‘true companion’, one who could understand him. Except he’d been lying to himself. Danielle could have understood him, but he rejected her. Vlad hadn’t been trying to make a companion, not really, he’d just been stroking his own ego. He’d wanted a perfect clone of Danny so he could convince ‘Danny’ to become like Vlad himself – Vlad would have tried to get the clone to agree he had been using his powers the right way all along – used it to justify his behavior and his existence, and also to convince himself he was better at everything than Jack, including fatherhood. Used the clone to stop him from doubting himself, from doubting that he was justified in the use of his power, from doubting that Maddie should have chosen him over Jack. That’s what he’d really been after, he’d known that, but refused to admit it to himself. Now that he didn’t want or need that kind of validation, it was clear, but it was funny … his pretend goal of companionship was exactly what he wanted now.

There was another way to save her. Danielle was made from manufactured genes and artificially created memories, almost none of Danny’s actual DNA remained. Vlad’s morph DNA wouldn’t impact her structure, but he had avoided using it because there was a chance taking a DNA sample mid morph could destabilize the host and get them stuck in a half-mutated state, and Vlad hadn’t wanted to risk that of himself. But at this stage? If the Master was gone and he got his powers back, would he take that risk? Risk an effective death?

“I… I promise,” Vlad answered. What did he have to lose? He’d have to find her first, if it wasn’t already too late. Was it too much to hope she would accept him, whatever was left of him, once Jack and Maddie left? Maybe if Vlad died, she could be the one good thing he left behind, maybe she would give his wasted life some meaning…

“Pay attention,” Jack said, and Vlad’s eyes snapped back.

“Now… after you’ve used your money and resources to complete the previous things… will you give up your fortune and earn it properly?”

“I… what?”

Jack shook him slightly, and Vlad gripped tightly to Jack’s wrists, his legs dangling.

“I’m talking about giving your companies back, or selling them if you must, to their proper owners. Selling Vladco. Donating the profits. And starting all over again, except this time, you’ll earn the money by your own merits, not with ghost minions.”

“I…” Why should he? Vlad pictured himself working as a designer in Vladco instead of as owner. No. No way. He needed his fortune, he liked being rich, having the power, he couldn’t just abandon it-

_What happiness has money brought you, anyway? And wasn’t it you who refused to overshadow anyone to get the Packers? Wouldn’t riches be more meaningful if you actually earned them?_

Vlad let go of Jack’s wrists and let himself fall limp in his grip.

“I will.”

“And… is there anything else you haven’t confessed about?”

“Erm, I haven’t gone into all the specifics of every attempt on your life. Or on Daniel’s. Or Jasmine’s.”

“Not like that,” Jack grunted. “I’ve given you a blanket statement for that. Anything else?”

And there was. Vlad had said he _hired_ the Wisconsin ghost, not that he _was_ the Wisconsin ghost.

“I… yes, but…” but if he admitted to being Plasmius, Danny may get revealed as Phantom. Could he make that call?

“My… relationship… with the Wisconsin Ghost is…. It’s like…. That ghost doesn’t even twitch a muscle without my say so,” Vlad tried to explain without lying outright. “I’ve used him for all of my more nefarious plots. If you ever saw him, you can guarantee I was right there, pulling the strings. I am responsible for his every action.”

That… had to be good enough.

Jack narrowed his eyes. “Then will you cut all ties with this Wisconsin Ghost?”

“I can’t,” Vlad said. “He can’t function without me… but… as soon as I’m free of the Master, I promise, I promise, I’ll introduce you, and he’ll never move against you or anyone else again.”

Jack stared at him. Vlad stared back, feeling drained, helpless, exhausted. He could make these amends, and maybe, if he waited long enough, Jack and Maddie may just-

Vlad was lowered to the ground and suddenly Jack’s arms were around him in a warm embrace.

“I… Jack? I don’t… I don’t underst-“

“If you’re honestly willing to make a change, I can forgive you V-man.”

Vlad’s eyes went wide.

“Seriously? After all I’ve confessed to, everything I’ve done, you’ll just-“

“I am an enormous fool after all.”

“You can’t mean that-“

“I do,” Jack grunted. “I’ll help keep you on the straight and narrow. Like how you helped me diet sophomore year.”

“… Jack, I threw out all your junk food and you went and had Maddie make you a batch of cookies the instant you were out of my sight.” Vlad’s words were muffled in Jack’s jumpsuit.

“But you couldn’t watch me 24/7. You’re staying here. It’ll be like rehab. Like… villain rehab. Ok?”

“…Ok,” Vlad agreed softly, completely baffled, slowly raising his arms to wrap around Jack. This couldn’t be real. But for a moment, he could pretend.

“There,” Jack said, patting Vlad’s back a bit. Vlad’s instinct said it was condescending, but he knew it was not. Jack was just that sort of touchy-feely guy.

“Feel better with that off your chest? Sorry I punched you, after all you went through…”

“Don’t apologize for that, you oaf,” Vlad grunted. “You would have been within your rights to kill me. Eye for an eye, all that…”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“It’s not absurd, it’s just, you can’t possibly forgive me, just like that-“

“I can, and I will,” Jack growled. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, you, me, and Maddie. It’s going to be rough. But we’ll work through it because that’s what friends do. I imagine you’re going to stumble,” Jack said, pushing Vlad away so he could look him in the eye again. “You’re going to be tempted to use your ghost contacts to seize power again. And I’ll be here- to stop you.”

Vlad saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Maddie…” He started. But he didn’t know what to say. What could he say? Her violet eyes glared at him something fierce.

“Thank you, for preventing the Master from hurting Jack,” she said stiffly. Vlad flushed. “I forgive you for hitting on me,” she said just as rigidly. “But I cannot- and I will not- forgive you for attempting to harm my family. Those ghost animals could have easily killed Danny. You’re very, very lucky he’s still alive, or I would gut you, laws be damned.”

Vlad gulped nervously. He believed her. Jack made no move to encourage his wife to relax her stance.

“I… I can leave,” Vlad tried. “Really.”

“You’re staying,” Maddie said grimly. “But you will be alone each night after 11, at least until we’ve had time to formulate a new strategy,” She shot Jack a death glare. “We just made things worse Jack- we cannot make the same mistake twice.”

“I… I don’t like it, not at all, but if Vlad’s alright with that…”

“I am,” Vlad said quickly. Obviously, he wanted to avoid being assaulted while he slept, but Jack and Maddie’s protection had proven ineffectual. They couldn’t be hurt again. He’d already decided that. Now that Jack was willing to forgive him though, Vlad was all the more determined to keep them safe.

“We’re going to take this… one day at a time,” Maddie said. “I make no promises Vlad. This betrayal… cuts deeper than anything else you could have said or done.”

“I know, I… you’re being more than generous.”

Maddie sighed, and rubbed her face tiredly.

“As long as you understand. Now. I’m going to remove that tape so you can shower. Make sure not to bump it. I’ll retape it when you’re done. Then you’re going to help Jack reinforce the Ops center, and I’m going to work in the lab. Clear?”

Vlad nodded. Maddie reached forward and gingerly removed the tape from Vlad’s face. He winced slightly as it pulled at his injuries, but he made an effort to hold completely still. Maddie sighed.

“What exactly did you hope to gain by killing Jazz and Danny anyway? Jack, I can at least understand your twisted logic… but children?”

Vlad swallowed a lump in his throat. He couldn’t explain Danny Phantom, but he could still explain. The only thing was…

“I had no good reason.”

“There is no such thing as a good reason, Vlad. I need to know anyway.”

“Daniel… Danny found out about my affection for you and my hatred for Jack. I asked him to be my son instead. He refused, naturally. If Jack had died, Danny would have known it was me who killed him. Danny found out first, so I focused on him. That’s all.”

Maddie exhaled slowly through her nose.

“When did Danny find out?”

“At… the first time he met me, at the reunion. I think he told Jazz about a month after the invasion of the ghost king. I’ve honestly mostly left her alone. Mostly.”

Maddie squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. The hand at her side closed into a tight fist.

“I really, really, want to rebreak your nose,” she finally said flatly. “Get out of my sight.”

Vlad was quick to comply, grabbing his suitcases as he turned. His heart felt simultaneously impossibly heavy, and very light. When he’d made his confession, he’d expected to be rejected entirely. It was probably too much to hope, but maybe, just maybe, he could salvage what little he had left after a lifetime of mistakes.

“I would have preferred she break your nose.”

“11pm, remember?” Of course, it was hard to salvage anything at all with his resident rapist still possessing him.

“I remember. If they’re going to be like that though, this isn’t going to be as fun as I thought. I’ll give you three days, but if things don’t become more interesting around here, you’ll have to move out.”

Vlad grunted. Three days of only being molested at night… it could be worse.

“I’ll have to make up for it, now that you’ve ruined my fun a bit,” The Master purred. “I think I’ll make you scream. And you never know, maybe that’ll play out in your favor, move Maddie to forgive you.”

“You understand very little of forgiveness,” Vlad grumbled, setting his suitcases in his room, and removing toiletries. “For example, do you think I’d say it’s alright for you to rape me if I knew you’d been abused as a child?”

“I prefer the term conquer. And you’d be surprised. Humans are illogical creatures.”

“Mmm. 11pm, remember?”

“Alright, alright, I’m going. I look forward to it.” With a simple touch on his shoulder, the Master was gone. Vlad noticed his hands were shaking again. Keeping up an unaffected air was difficult.

This wasn’t over. Forgiveness and friendships aside, none of it mattered if Vlad couldn’t survive long enough to see it. He prayed Maddie would make a breakthrough. Fast.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

_3:10 pm, Wednesday, April 18 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie was in a foul mood. Actually, that would be an understatement. She was fuming. Furious. _And to think, I was actually starting to get along with Vlad again, feel affectionate toward him…_

Maddie aggressively threw the laser she’d been using across the room. Every degree and variation of heat she tried had no affect on the anti-ectoplasm either. She’d need liquid nitrogen or colder to see if it was affected below freezing, but at this point, she was starting to doubt anything would touch it.

She’d even fired a particle gun at it. If the gun could rip a hole in the fabric of reality, you’d think it could disrupt a few anti-ectoplasm cells. But of course not. That would be too easy.

_He didn’t have to confess any of that,_ a voice whispered in the back of her head. _You never would have known_.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. If Danny had known of Vlad’s desires toward her as early as the reunion and hadn’t told her… how had Vlad kept him quiet? Why hadn’t Danny said Vlad tried to convince him to be his son of all things? Was it even worse than she imagined?

“Mom? Is this a bad time?” Jazz’s voice asked.

Maddie scrambled not to drop the anti-ectoplasm sample. Speak of the devil…

She turned to see Danny and Jazz standing in the doorway. What time was it?

“As good a time as any,” Maddie replied, glaring at the anti-ectoplasm slides as if her gaze alone would be enough to destabilize them.

“I need to talk to you,” Maddie spoke firmly. “Danny. Did Vlad try to convince you to, oh for the love of, ‘be his son’, back at our college reunion?”

Both of them looked shocked, but not confused. Damn it all, he had, what kind of twisted-

“Yes, but how’d you find out about that?” Danny asked.

“He told us,” Maddie said stiffly. “And I just need to know, why didn’t you say anything? Did Vlad hurt you, threaten you? Danny, I need – I need to know…”

Maddie trailed off feeling lost. How badly had she failed her children over the years?

“…”

“… how bad was it? What’s he done?”

“Nothing…”

“Danny, Vlad says you found out he was in love with me, that he hated Jack badly enough to kill him, and then tried to convince you to be his son. That can’t be nothing.”

“Well, ok, not nothing. He told you all that? Why?”

_I have no idea._

“If he told me all that, what hasn’t he told me? I just want to make sure he didn’t confess all that to hide something worse. Danny, please, you have to let me know if he hurt you, if he’s threatening you-“

“Did he tell you about the Wisconsin Ghost?” Jazz asked.

Maddie pursed her lips. “He said that ghost doesn’t so much as twitch a muscle or appear anywhere without his say so. Which means it was effectively Vlad who possessed Jack, trashed the party, and tried to kidnap me.”

“Yeah, effectively,” Danny looked somewhat awkward. Both he and Jazz exchanged significant looks. Maddie looked between the two of them, increasingly agitated.

“I guess the only thing he didn’t reveal then…” Danny said slowly. Then he paused and rubbed the back of his neck. Jazz nudged him.

“I’m sorry Jazz, I just didn’t expect to do it this way…”

“These are desperate times. Remember, if she knows it will only help us help Vlad-“

“If I know what?” Maddie queried. She was becoming increasingly alarmed by their tone.

“Ok. Mom-“ Danny said and he puffed up his chest a bit as if preparing to give a speech, “The reason I didn’t tell you is because Vlad found out something about me I didn’t want you to know or worry about. I blackmailed him into better behavior, he blackmailed me. That’s the only thing he didn’t say.”

“Blackmailed you with what?”

“I… you remember that portal accident back at the beginning of the school year?”

“You were lucky you didn’t die,” Maddie said, very concerned. “I was astounded all your vitals were normal.”

“Here’s the thing – there was a rather permanent side effect. I guess all that ecto-energy permanently altered my dna. Mom, I’m… I’m half ghost. I’m Danny Phantom,”

You could have heard a pin drop. Maddie said the first thing that came to mind.

“That’s impossible,” _but why would Danny lie about something like that?_ “You can’t be half ghost, ghosts don’t have DNA the same way we do, and it’s impossible to be half dead-“

“Are you sure about that DNA thing?” Jazz asked. “Sure, some ghosts like Ember and the lunch lady were human once, but quite a few like Technus, the Box Ghost, and Skulker never were. Some ghosts are created, some are born, some are spawned, some are influenced by the thoughts of the living – Sidney Poindexter has a ghost modeled on his suffering, but he’s still alive for goodness sake-“

“Jazz, where did you learn all this?” Danny asked confused.

“It was in that _Interviews with the Ancients_ book, by Cato, he had a chapter referencing ghost species and listed out which category each interviewee belonged to, and I interviewed Sidney Poindexter last month. I updated your files.”

“Files? What-“

“It’ll be easier if I just show you…” Danny said.

As Maddie watched two white rings appeared around Danny’s waist and extended outward until the ghost boy himself, Danny Phantom, stood – no floating now, floated – in front of her.

Maddie stepped backward feeling faint. That just wasn’t possible, it wasn’t-

“Mom? Don’t freak out!” Danny cautioned, the white rings appearing again and he was back, looking like his usual self.

Maddie stared wide eyed. That would… explain a lot, actually. Jazz and Danny’s staunch defense of Phantom, the ghost boy’s seemingly complex consciousness, Danny’s frequent absences and unexplainable injuries that simply vanished to the point where Maddie questioned if she had seen them at all.

“This… this is a lot to take in,” she said slowly. “And I have questions- lots of them. A year’s worth of questions for you.”

“That’s ok,” Danny said. “I’ll answer them. But … you wanted to know about Vlad?”

Maddie felt light headed. “Yes, yes I do. Don’t think this means you’re off the hook forever though. He admitted to a lot, but I want to know what you know. Now. I need to know…” _If I can trust him_ , “If he’s come clean.”

“Alright,” Danny said. “Alright, he’s done a lot, so… let me think.”

“Erm, you got the whole bit about wants to kill dad, marry you, and make me his son slash apprentice?”

“The apprentice bit is new, but basically yes.”

“Ok… the reunion mess was all him… he sent some ectopusses and ghost vultures to waste dad?”

“Said he’d sent ghosts to kill Jack, yes.”

“Sent those false letters about the Dalv group – it’s Vlad spelled backwards – stranded us with him, and threw ghost animals at me, trying to kill me because I didn’t accept him as a potential father and he wanted me out of the way?”

Maddie nodded.

“Gave Val- I mean – the red huntress ghost fighting equipment so I’d have someone constantly trying to capture or kill my Danny Phantom half?”

Nod. More or less.

“Put out a million-dollar bounty on my head so he could keep me busy while he stole our ghost portal since he got his own blown up?”

“…we’ll lump that in with the confession that he’s tried to kill you several times throughout the year.”

“Stole a ring from Pariah Dark, the ghost king, which plunged Amity Park into the ghost realm, used me and the red-huntress to clean up his mess, and stole our ecto-skeleton?”

“Not in so many words, but yes.”

“Ripped out my ghost half and accidentally created- no, wait, that never happened, never mind.”

Maddie gave Danny a look, but Jazz interrupted.

“I think that’s where I came in. Around that time, I found out Danny had ghost powers. There were a lot of weird thefts in Amity Park. I put together that of all the ghosts and people we knew, Vlad was probably involved. That’s when I went off to stay at his place in Wisconsin. He didn’t know I knew about his plots, so I was hopeful to figure out what he was up to and call Danny- but he caught me. He had modified the ecto-skeleton so it no longer hurt the wearer by regulating their body with nanobots and adding an infinite power source. Danny showed up and Vlad shoved me into the skeleton and ordered me to kill Phantom- though he wasn’t aware I knew Danny’s identity. He said he could kill me with the nanobots if I disobeyed. Danny and I worked together and blew up the ecto-skeleton – and beat Vlad up something fierce too.”

“He said Danny Phantom destroyed it, and admitted to trying to kill you,” Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose. This was extensive. This had to be why he admitted it though, he knew it was only a matter of time before Danny told her everything. Self-serving sleazeball to the last… but he’d tried to leave their house. To go toward danger. Admitting to all this had made it even less likely he could stay, and less likely he’d be safe from the Master. What self-serving purpose could be found in that? And why had he-

Maddie suddenly saw it in her minds eye, Vlad on his knees, pleasuring the hulking form of the ghost who had so recently seemed to be interested in hurting her husband. She shuddered.

“Mom?” Danny asked.

“I’m fine. Keep going.”

“Right… Infected Sam and Tucker with ecto-acne so I, as Danny Phantom, would help save him? I would have helped him anyway if I realized he was dying mom, I swear.”

Maddie nodded, frowning.

“How did being Danny Phantom help you figure out it was diet cola causing the ecto-impurities?”

“Clockwork, ghost of all time,” Danny said. “He let me go back in time and view the accident. Granted, I wanted to change it… but I accidentally gave dad ecto-acne instead of Vlad, you and Vlad got married, I never existed, and it was a mess.”

Maddie’s blood went cold. “Ok, suspending disbelief about the possibility of time travel - there was a timeline… when I married Vlad?!”

“You weren’t happy,” Danny said. “Vlad lied to you, said dad didn’t want to see you, and forced you to be his domestic house wife. You had to study ghosts in secret. The timeline ended with you demanding I make sure that ‘horrible future’ never happened. Clockwork was kind enough to fix things back to the way they were.”

Maddie actually relaxed at that.

“That sounds more like him, for a moment I thought… never mind.” _For a moment I thought I’d been wrong about him._ But that controlling nature of Vlad’s was the one she was used to. Jack had been good at disrupting it, but Maddie would have never wanted to put up with it as a domestic partner.

“I’ll tell him about it if you think it would make him back off, but I don’t think he’d believe me, he seems convinced you are destined to be together,” Danny offered.

“He’s already promised to back off,” Maddie said. She wasn’t sure she believed him though.

“He created Danielle, a half ghost-hybrid, based on my DNA, kidnapped me, and tried to get a DNA sample of me mid-morph so he could use it to create a ‘perfect, half ghost son’?”

“I… he said he threw out Danielle and vowed to stabilize her as penance. He admitted to trying to create a human using you as a model, but not to that extent…”

Maddie sighed.

“Vlad… what have you done?” She muttered.

“He also had the Wisconsin ghost overshadow Amity Park to make him mayor, but to be honest, that one’s kinda my fault, he was leaving me alone but I thought it’d be funny to send the Guys in White to destroy his home, it created a prank war that … escalated… to that.”

“Sounds like Vlad, he could never back down from a challenge,” Maddie grumbled. “We went paintballing once, and it dragged on for 6 hours, hundreds of dollars in paints, because Vlad didn’t want to end the game when Jack had managed more shots than him. That stuff bruises, they were both a mess by the time Vlad finally had to concede. He never was good at being the bigger man and backing down. Then again, neither was Jack. I suppose they ended up friends for a reason…”

Maddie took a moment to collect herself.

“Is that the whole of it?”

“That’s all,” Danny said.

“Mom,” Jazz said. “Let’s not tell dad about Danny yet, not until we get rid of the Master.”

“It’s impossible,” Maddie said, shaking her head. “I’ve tried everything I can think of, and I can’t damage the anti-ectoplasm.”

“We found a way,” Jazz said. “A risky way, but we think it’ll work.”

“I’ll take anything I can get at this point,” Maddie said.

“We went to the Ghost Writer’s library in the ghost zone-“ Danny started.

“We? Danny, you may be safe there, but it’s filled with radiation, we don’t know what the effect might be on people-“

“We used the suits and the specter speeder, you can lecture me later, let me get through this before Vlad or dad show up.”

“…Alright.”

“Ok. We found a book that described the Master. There are a few things that are important to know…” Danny trailed off. He looked somewhat uncomfortable. Jazz noticed and picked it up.

“Given Vlad’s sharing mood, I imagine you already know some of what the ghost is like, so I’m not going to sugar coat this. The Master looks and acts human and is likely made of this anti-ectoplasm because he made a wish on an amulet – that’s the tattoo. It’s a part of him now. We researched it, and no one’s been able to figure out how to destroy the amulet and it predates the ghost zone’s earliest records – we’re talking millions of years old.”

“The Master cannot touch any ghost without killing them – Danny’s in special danger, by the way, he’d likely lose access to Phantom – so the Master walked among humans instead. He possesses a human host after raping them.”

Maddie looked at Jazz in horror – not because she didn’t know about Vlad’s violation, but because Jazz did. She had hoped to spare them…

“The Master cannot leave Vlad. He’s stuck with him ‘til death do them part. Which does mean he can’t possess us in the same way he possesses him. The last time he was defeated, his human host was killed, and he was tossed into the ghost zone while he was hostless and vulnerable.”

“We think the best way to save Vlad… may be to kill him. Here in the lab would be best. Incapacitate the Master, maybe with an electric shock, and throw him into the ghost portal. He can’t float, fly, or anything so the chances he’ll be able to come back to this exact point in time are slim to none. We could then revive Vlad.”

“… electric shocks are no good. But that spectral creep definitely can’t hide back in Vlad unless he touches him. And if he can’t inhabit a corpse…”

Maddie chewed her lip. “It might… I may be able to come up with something…”

“It’s really, really important you don’t discuss the plan around or with Vlad,” Danny said. “Everything he knows, the Master knows. The ghost can function while he sleeps too. You’re going to have to… kill him… without letting him know what you’re doing or why. And whatever method you use, we’ll have to be able to resuscitate him.”

“Mom, we meant what we said about not telling dad about Danny Phantom yet,” Jazz said. “If you bring up the conversation about Phantom, and Vlad hears about it through dad, the Master may be tipped off that we’re sharing information with you from the ghost zone. The Master knows about Danny Phantom’s dual identity.”

“How could he possibly know that?” Maddie asked.

Danny bowed his head and turned an alarming shade of red.

“…Danny?”

“I… I may have been there when the Master stepped out of Vlad’s portal. Vlad forgot to lock it. I taunted the Master, and … well. _This_ happened. The Master attacked Vlad to prove a point, because I suggested he was compensating for something with his name. Vlad realized ecto-weapons didn’t hurt him, that I was in danger, and distracted him long enough for me to get away. I didn’t know what he was going to do to Vlad, I swear! But I knew it wasn’t good, and I didn’t try to get help either. Vlad’s like this… because of me.”

“Danny, don’t say that!” Maddie ordered at the same time Jazz made a similar protest.

“This is no one’s fault but the Master’s,” Maddie said, gripping Danny in a hug. “We’ll rescue Vlad, no matter what he’s done, we haven’t given up. You can’t blame yourself, not at all.”

“I know… logically I know… but – but honestly, I expected… I expected Vlad to blame me. With all his other confessions, he didn’t mention me or Danny Phantom’s involvement when the Master first appeared, at all?”

Maddie frowned, considering. “No… no he didn’t.”

“I know it’s a lot to forgive Vlad for,” Jazz said. “But honestly mom, the fact that he came clean – he may actually be trying to change.”

“Jazz, I know you’re studying psychology, you should know people don’t change that easily.”

“Mom, Vlad’s gone through- and is going through- a massive traumatic life event,” Jazz said. “People cope in varying ways, but one thing everyone does is try to make sense of what happened, why, and what it means for them and who they are. It’s possible being raped,“ Maddie flinched “being powerless, made Vlad reevaluate his choices, and his choices to obtain power at the expense of everything else in particular. My guess would be, somewhere along the way, he realized how much you meant to him and how he didn’t want to lose you. We got lucky. I had worried he might react with anger or spite and lash out at all of us instead.”

“That does seem more like Vlad,” Maddie said. “Maybe I need to give him more credit…”

“The true test,” Jazz continued, “will be to see how he acts when the Master is gone. If I was your psychologist, I’d say you’re under no obligation to forgive him for anything. Just because he apologized, doesn’t make his past actions ok.”

Maddie nodded. “You’re right, of course you’re right. Your father is all gung ho about giving it a shot though. Danny-“

Maddie pursed her lips and he quailed under her glare. “Thank you for telling me about being Danny Phantom. I want you to always feel safe to come to me with your problems, so now that you have, I won’t punish you for past actions, BUT I will NOT tolerate any more of this sneaking around! If you’re using Danny Phantom to protect the town, we want to know about it, especially after school hours, and if you ever feel you’re in danger, you are to call us _immediately_ , understood?”

Danny nodded quickly.

“Alright. The ops center should be secure now, and the Master says he’ll only appear at night, but I don’t trust that ghost farther than I can throw him – which is not at all. So even though it’s less than ideal…”

Maddie handed Danny and Jazz a stun gun from her work bench.

“Stun gun. Press to discharge, forks touching the enemy and nothing else. I dialed back the voltage so it should only cause momentary pain instead of complete incapacitation. The point here is for you to wear that on your person, in plain sight, at all times while in this house. The Master needs to see you are armed. If he actually appears though, you are to run, not fight. And if you can use ghost powers to go through walls, all the better. Also, keep a distance from Vlad if you can help it…. You know, I really should probably just pay for a hotel. Or make Vlad do it.”

“With dad keeping an eye on Vlad all the time, you’re going to need some lab hands,” Jazz said. “We’ll stay. Are you and dad still watching over Vlad at night?”

“No,” Maddie said grimly. “It only seems to make things worse for everyone. We’ll be in the Ops center with you, Vlad keeps his guest room.”

“What happened?!” Danny asked, looking terrified.

“Got incapacitated with our own stun gun,” Maddie grumbled, “Hence the lower voltage. I’m not even sure if it works on the Master or not. But it was a hard lesson learned – don’t charge at that ghost when he’s near Vlad. He can disappear in an instant into that tattoo, and he’ll use that to his advantage.”

This was too much for children to endure, certainly. But Danny and Jazz both looked determined. They had already kept the secret of Danny Phantom. Maddie had seen all the ghost boy had been involved in – it was hard for her to admit he really had been trying to help, not causing chaos – she remembered threatening to tear her own son apart, molecule by molecule. Maddie felt tears prick her eyes. How oblivious had she been? First, she failed to notice Vlad’s nefarious intentions, and she, a ghost hunter, failed to spot that her son was half ghost! The ghost gabber announced it at every spare moment for crying out loud!

She imagined Danny suffering in silence, dealing with ghost enemies, the weight of the town’s hatred, worries that his own parents might kill him…

And then her mind shifted and she saw a young man, hair shocked white, covered in ecto-acne, screaming that Jack had ruined his life. And she saw beyond that. Saw that same young man sitting in a hospital bed, alone with his thoughts. Day after day. With no visitors – because she and Jack had been all he had. He’d made clear he had no father, and she’d already known his mother had passed. His uncle, his namesake, was in prison, she remembered that too. No grandparents. No siblings. No friends. Alone to stew, to hate, never knowing if the day he was living would be his last.

She’d seen the likely progression of the ecto-acne when it reappeared. Threats of his heart stopping, chronic fatigue due to low blood-oxygen levels, likely renal failure, dialysis… and that had been just the start of it, just a day’s worth of infection. To think, she’d left him to that fate because he said hurtful things after misunderstanding her holding hands with Jack. She had owed it to him to go back to the hospital with Jack, to set things straight at least. To tell him that she would never love him as more than a friend, even if Jack hadn’t confessed his own feelings, that she would be there for him… would he have accepted that?

She remembered what Danny said about alternate timelines and possessive relationships. Probably not. But she had owed it to him to try. And now? She owed him nothing. Less than nothing. If anything, she owed him a prison sentence. But what did she _want_ to do?

“Jazz, pass me that Fenton Bazooka,” Maddie said, pulling her hood over her head. “We’re going to make some modifications…”


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

_6:07 pm, Wednesday, April 18 th, Fenton Works_

_~Danny~_

Danny never thought he’d wish for the odd atmosphere the dinner table had yesterday. Back when his parents were reminiscing about college, they were laughing, and Vlad was sharing way too much about himself in an almost deliberate way that Danny thought he had some new villainous plot cooking despite his circumstances.

Now was different. Now they sat mechanically eating pasta – which apparently Vlad had made, supervised by Jack – and the Fentons were all crowded on the side of the table closest to the door while Vlad sat by himself on the other side. A precaution, due to his possession. But also likely because of the new tension that had come between them all, more potent than it had been before, more potent than it had been between Danny and Vlad alone.

It felt as if they were teetering on the edge of a precipice and the slightest motion, a single word, may cause them all to crash into the abyss below.

Danny was hyper aware of the sounds of chewing. He wanted to say something. Especially since Vlad looked worse, his right eye blackened like his left, and Danny was bothered that Vlad was continuing to get hurt and bothered greater still that everyone was apparently going to avoid interfering the next time it happened – and that he thought it was for the best. His parents mattered more than Vlad. Strangely, Vlad didn’t seem to begrudge them for their decision and that bothered Danny all the more. Vlad not putting himself first was un-Vlad-like.

It was Vlad who broke the silence first.

“I wasn’t joking, when I said I would leave.”

“Absolutely not, we’ve been through this,” Jack snarled, “Several times today in fact. The only way you leave us is if you go to someone else for help, you are _not_ staying somewhere by yourself.”

Silence. Danny was suddenly aware of the motions necessary to chew his food and for a moment he was worried he would choke. They were so close – his mom had outlined a very good plan – far better than what Danny and his friends had been able to conceive of on their own. But it would take time to prepare all the materials necessary. And in the meantime…

“You said you continued your ghost research,” Maddie said finally, directing her question at Vlad. “We’ve theorized ghosts are manifestations of ectoplasmic energy bound by post-human consciousness. Would you say that this is correct?”

Vlad frowned thoughtfully. “Yes, and no. Ectoplasm is bound together readily by emotions. Any strong emotions. While it’s possible for someone to die here, and a ghost to manifest in the ghost zone, the circumstances have to be precise.”

“What kind of circumstances?” Jack asked, intrigued.

“Trauma,” Vlad said. “You won’t find a ghost of someone who died in their sleep. When a creature, usually a human, feels a sudden intense surge of emotion, that emotion resonates with and impacts the ghost zone. All strong emotions. It’s what makes up the atmosphere.”

The tension was draining from the room, and Danny found himself interested despite himself. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had always assumed Vlad had bought all his inventions, financed teams of researchers, but Vlad said he designed some of Vladco’s tech himself. He had years to expand his powers – it made sense he would have explored the ghost zone in that time as well.

“When a human experiences a particularly large spike of emotion – typically fear of imminent death, but not always – the ectoplasm in the ghost zone’s atmosphere has the potential to take the shape of the human it was influenced by. I haven’t been able to pin down all the variables, but I believe this is most likely to occur when the fabric between our world and the ghost zone weakens, and a portal emerges. It happens all the time, far more often than you’d think, for brief moments. Usually the openings are too small for any ill effects.”

“Could that theoretically create a paradox?” Maddie asked.

“In what way?” Vlad questioned.

“Like two ghosts of the same person? Or a ghost appearing long before someone’s dead?”

“It’s not a paradox once you comprehend that ghosts are not, strictly speaking, spirits of those once living. The easiest example, is the ghost of the Wisconsin Dairy King.”

“The man who…” Maddie started.

“Yes, that one,” Vlad cut off. “His ghost haunts my mansion. Here’s a thought exercise for you. The Wisconsin Dairy King died peacefully in his sleep. He owned stakes in many companies and served on their boards but had managed to delegate most of his duties in order to live quietly, much like I do. He ate cheese, drank wine, did as he wanted, when he wanted it. His marriage was happy – his wife never found out about his transgressions, nor about my supposed parentage. She predeceased him, but he recovered. His life was an easy one.”

“That begs the question. Why would the Wisconsin Dairy King become a ghost?”

Vlad was smiling slightly, engaged in the conversation. Jack looked completely stumped. Maddie was contemplative.

“Unfinished business?” Maddie asked. “With you-“

“Definitely not,” Vlad said. “Having something left undone isn’t a strong enough pull to manifest in another dimension. Try again.”

“It’s a trick question isn’t it?” Jazz concluded. “The answer is that he didn’t become a ghost at all. Something else is pretending to be the Wisconsin Dairy King.”

“Exactly,” Vlad said. “Well done Jasmine, the world of soft sciences is wasted on you. Have you ever considered continuing your parents’ research?”

“Not my thing. And it’s Jazz,” Jazz corrected.

“Jazz,” Vlad copied. “The ghost that now bears the shape of the Wisconsin Dairy King didn’t always look that way. When I first got the mansion, I found it hiding among the cheese cultures. It was rather devastated when I got rid of all of them, kept screaming about how much it loved cheese, I was taking away what it loved, it was quite annoying about it, but I wasn’t sympathetic. The cheese had to go. It clung to me like some kind of parasite, and I couldn’t shake it off, even as I entered my manor. It saw the portrait of the Wisconsin Dairy King, saw his cheese staff, and asked me who he was. I promised to indulge it in an explanation if it would let go.”

“It let go. I explained. The next morning I enter my foyer and encountered the ghost of the Wisconsin Dairy King, lecturing me for throwing out all his cheese cultures and demanding a plate of cheese samples to keep himself entertained. He’d affected an accent, which I assumed he thought sounded regal, but it was definitely the same voice of the annoying spirit I had encountered the day prior. This sparked my interest into researching the creation and evolution of ghosts.”

“Fascinating,” Maddie said, and Danny could tell she meant it, her eyes were practically glowing. “Did he become the Dairy King because he loved cheese and was trying to look the part of a cheese loving spirit do you think?”

“Definitely,” Vlad said. “The ghost texts I’ve gotten my hands on call ghosts without any strong physical defining features ecnoids. Shapeless balls of ectoplasm, will, and consciousness. They tend to manifest out of collective ectoplasmic whims. For example, love of boxes, or cheese, or other obscure human passions. As they gain power, they try to take a physical shape that best expresses those passions.”

“Can all ghosts do that?” Danny asked suddenly. “Change physical appearance based on their desires, I mean.”

“Yes,” Vlad answered. “Though it’s usually difficult for the human based constructs. They tend to get stuck in their own heads – they know how the human body should behave, so they may age, or get fat, or change their hair color, but they won’t usually morph into a completely different entity. Their preconceived notions of time won’t allow them to change all at once either, it’s a much more gradual morphing process.”

This raised a question for Danny immediately. He remembered his dad in the alternate timeline, bellowing rage and hate, looking very much like the Plasmius Vlad became. Did their bitterness and hatred morph them into looking like a vampire? What was Plasmius? Why did Danny look so human as Phantom, when Plasmius did not?

“So there’s a chance, if Danny Phantom starts to resent Amity Park, and gets really angry, he might, I don’t know, grow horns to signify his anger or something?”

“I doubt it,” Vlad said simply. “As I said, the human-based ghost lifeforms tend to morph within the construct of humanity. He’ll likely grow old as his consciousness matures, but I wouldn’t expect a complete appearance shift. At most, if he became a vengeful spirit, I’d expect a costume change, and not much else.”

That hadn’t answered his unspoken question. Danny decided to go for it.

“The Wisconsin Ghost looks like a vampire,” Danny said. “Mom said you told her you and he were close. Would you say he’s a human based ghost, or a manifestation of a collective ectoplasmic whim, like a love of blood?”

Vlad chuckled. He didn’t sound angry, and that was something. He didn’t even give Danny that look he sometimes did when he thought Danny was hinting too overtly to his parents.

“For as long as I’ve known him, he’s looked that way. He’s different though. He was born from humanity, but unlike a traditional ghost, he wasn’t born in a flash of fear as death closed in. He was born of a long, drawn out agony, of years of anguish, pain, hatred, fear, and self-loathing, kept alive only to feed the greedy desires of others who used his suffering for their own personal gain. He became a parasite, dependent on others to survive, but he was a vengeful parasite to be sure. I imagine his human mind conceptualized this as being a vampire – but to be perfectly frank, your guess is as good as mine.”

“How’d he die, to create a ghost like that?” Maddie asked.

“He can’t remember,” Vlad answered. “He just knows he was terminally ill with something no doctor could understand. Quite a few physicians and scientists tried to study it, but their efforts eventually proved futile.”

There had been some anger in Vlad’s tone as he gave his explanation but it was gone shortly. Now he just looked tired.

“When’d you meet him?” Danny asked, and there it was, that look that said Danny was pushing it, and Danny was almost relieved to see it.

“He showed up at my hospital one day about four years after my accident. I’d just been moved to a new bed, and he didn’t much like me sitting in it. It was apparently his bed, you see.”

Danny blinked. Taking out the bit of filler that was likely for his parents benefit, Vlad had said something astonishing. Four years? His transformation to Phantom had been seamless. Putting that story together…

“Ghosts aren’t only born from human consciousnesses,” Vlad changed the topic. “There are animal ones as well, and I’ve been able to force them to manifest in a lab setting, by making sure to kill them within the ghost zone. We can debate ethics on that one later. But what is truly curious, is some ghosts are capable of reproducing like any other animal. Except unlike animals, results may vary. In our world, we know if two tigers get together, you’ll get a tiger. In the ghost world, if two ghost tigers get together, they may birth an ecnoid which then morphs into something else entirely over time. Like a dragon. I’ve spent years trying to figure out why it happens, but I’m no closer to the answers.”

“Maybe, when this is all over…” Maddie said, her voice tentative, “You could work for us, and help us figure it out. Especially if you actually sell your business interests.”

“I… I’d like that,” Vlad said hesitantly.

“No promises,” Maddie insisted. “We’ll have to see how things go.”

“I know.”

The silence resumed except this time, it felt comfortable. If it weren’t for the bruises on Vlad’s face, Danny could pretend life was normal. Instead he felt each second that passed acutely. Danny tried to imagine what life would be like once Vlad was freed from the Master, and both his parents knew of Phantom’s true identity, and with the way things were going, of Vlad’s ghost half too. He simply couldn’t get the image to form try as he might. It seemed impossible.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

_10:30 pm, Wednesday, April 18 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

To say the day had been exhausting would have been a major understatement. Vlad had been functioning more or less as Jack’s errand boy, carrying his tools and handing him supplies as he reinforced the ops center. Apparently, the whole thing could become a blimp and take flight if needed, and that was fascinating. Jack and Maddie really had come a long way over the years.

The day had also been incredibly awkward. Vlad couldn’t bring himself to regret his confession to Jack- he’d had no choice, not really- but Jack’s newfound solemn distance was more upsetting than Vlad was willing to admit. Jack Fenton was action, motion, passion – Vlad would have taken his rage and his fists over the silence.

Thankfully, after dinner, things seemed to shift, and Jack had started talking to him – the Ops center was secure within an hour after dinner, but Jack still stuck to Vlad like glue. Jack was trying to create a net that ghosts couldn’t phase out of on the Ops center table – and he was driving Vlad nuts.

“Remember when we first managed to artificially manufacture ectoplasm?” Jack asked, mixing chemicals in a beaker. “We underestimated how much of an effect the human growth hormone would have on it and flooded the second floor.”

“Yes,” Vlad said somewhat impatiently. “It ruined my best jumper- Jack, that is way too much sodium, you’re going to destabilize the mixture and your net will break.”

“No, if I don’t add enough, I’ll fail to neutralize the-“

“Jack, really,” Vlad complained, “I know what I’m talking about. Do you have any raw potassium in this hodge-podge excuse for a lab? It’s far better than sodium when it comes to circumventing ghost powers.”

“Potassium is too expensive, Vladdie, I already waste enough materials as it is. We’re on a budget, and Maddie would throw a fit,” Jack said amiably.

Jack’s face was screwed up in concentration, his tongue sticking out as he measured the chemicals.

“There!” Jack exclaimed proudly. “Now if I just add the net-“

“It’ll break,” Vlad deadpanned. Jack was undeterred and painted the solution onto a nylon fiber, waited a few seconds, then tested the strand in his hands.

“Seems stable to me,” he said happily.

“You don’t have a ghost in it yet, Jack,” Vlad said. “At the rate you’re going, I won’t be working for you, I’ll be spending all my time cleaning up your messes.”

“You’ve always been good at that, V-man,” Jack smiled broadly. Despite himself, Vlad found himself returning the smile.

“Just like old times, huh?” Vlad asked.

“Exactly.”

“Well I’d appreciate it if you took more direction from me, especially if I say it’s dangerous. I do not want to spend another 7 years in the hospital due to your incompetence.”

“That goes without saying,” Jack yawned, and suddenly froze, looking at Vlad frantically. “What time is it?”

Vlad’s stomach clenched, because of course this wasn’t over, and this normalcy couldn’t last… Vlad craned his neck, looking for the digital display.

“A little after 10:30,” he said finally. “I should probably go.”

Jack frowned. “We could give it another shot, I’ve got some more weapons up here, maybe one of them would-“

“You’d be just as likely, if not more so, to shoot and kill me than that blasted ghost,” Jack flinched back and Vlad realized just how much venom had been in his voice. He tried consciously to dial it back. “It’s for the best, Jack.”

“No,” Jack disagreed. “It’s not.”

Vlad didn’t say anything further. What else could be said?

“Come on, then,” Jack said, rubbing his face. “Downstairs. I’ll fetch Maddie from the lab…”

He trailed off, and looked at Vlad intently, his expression inscrutable.

“…what?” Vlad finally asked.

“I hate this,” Jack said quietly. “I’m trying to pretend you’ll be alright. It’s not working.”

“You really don’t have to worry about me, Jack. You shouldn’t.”

“I’d worry about anyone in your shoes.”

“I’m not anyone though. I’m an attempted murderer, remember?”

“You’ve done a pretty poor job of it though, I can’t help but notice,” Jack said frowning. “I know you, you’re brilliant, there’s no reason for me to be standing here, unless you made the whole thing up.”

That hurt for some reason. Vlad wasn’t sure why.

“Don’t trivialize my actions,” Vlad growled. “I did not make my confession lightly. Perhaps I could have tried harder, but I did, very certainly, try.”

“It’s just… The Vladdie I know…”

“The Vlad you knew,” Vlad corrected, “died twenty years ago. You don’t know me at all.”

Jack nodded, but the motion seemed reflexive, and he didn’t seem to really be agreeing. “You’re different, angry, vengeful maybe, but not a completely different person. That old Vlad is still in there somewhere, buried under all that hate. I’m sure he can be revived, I can see him in you.”

Jack looked so tired, so small in his sadness, but his eyes were bright and resolute, and Vlad found the bitterness and rage that had been forming melt away within that gaze. It was peculiar, to look at Jack without feeling his ever-present hatred. All Vlad could summon was a feeling of deep sadness.

Vlad reached out and clapped Jack on the shoulder, unthinking, trying to push down the uncomfortable emotions within himself. “I hope you’re right,” Vlad muttered.

“I know I am.”

Vlad wished he had that confidence.

***

The Master appeared precisely at 11pm. Vlad was sitting up on the edge of his bed, changed into pajamas, expecting it, but he still jumped when he felt a weight form around him from behind.

“How disappointing,” The Master murmured, beginning to unbutton Vlad’s shirt, legs draped to either side of Vlad as he sat behind him. “I had wanted the Fentons next door in their master bedroom to hear you scream. Now we have the house all to ourselves.”

“You didn’t seem to mind, back at the mansion,” Vlad said bitterly. If the Master wanted to go all night again… he’d had a nap after his nighttime vigil, and he’d slept throughout the day yesterday, but Vlad could still feel a deep fatigue that he couldn’t quite shake off, and while he was able to sit without experiencing pain, he’d be lying if he said it was anything but uncomfortable.

“I spent all day fantasizing about what I’d get to do with you, and my fantasies are now ruined. What to do… Ideally, I want to ruin you so you can no longer look your friends in the eye,” the Master said conversationally, undoing the last button and stroking Vlad’s chest. “Then you’ll leave and I’ll have you all to myself. There’s a pattern here, that I like to stick to. First, I ruin you in front of your friends…”

The Master pulled the nightshirt off, and Vlad shivered as the air hit his skin, “Then I ruin you in front of everyone else, until you can’t show your face in public. Until you withdraw from society. You’ll come to rely on me for everything in due time. You’ll be unable to function without me.”

_I highly doubt that_ , Vlad thought, but he kept it to himself. He had no doubt he may end up shattering from these repeated attentions, but turning to the Master to function? Relying on him? Even if the Master managed to completely isolate him, he’d never do that. The thought was unconscionable.

“We’re going to have to do things out of order,” the Master murmured.

Out of order?

“Put on your suit,” The Master ordered. “We’re going out.”

Vlad’s brain short circuited.

“What?” He asked, not daring to believe that meant what he thought it meant, unsure where this was going, but knowing it wasn’t good.

“Oh, you heard me just fine,” The Master purred. “Back into your clothes you go, be a good pet, out of those pajamas of yours.”

Vlad was given a little shove, and he stood up, looking at the Master, dread settling in his gut.

“By out, you mean-“

“Put your clothes on, and I’ll show you what I mean.”

Vlad hesitated. If he refused, went boneless, the Master would likely have a hard time getting him dressed himself, and he may give up on ‘going out’ entirely. Or he might decide to break Vlad’s kneecaps instead.

Vlad moved to get changed.

He moved too quickly. Too soon he was dressed to the nines, suit in place, shoes on.

“Put your hair up too, like you normally do,” the Master commanded. Vlad did, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

“Follow me,” the Master said, and he walked out of the room.

That… was rather arrogant. Vlad stared at his retreating back in disbelief. He wouldn’t follow. Maybe he could run? Get far enough away, and the Master could be attacked while unable to fuse back with him, be killed-

The Master’s head ducked back around the doorway.

“That wasn’t a suggestion, pet.”

Vlad followed. He half expected to be lead to the front door, but the Master instead entered Jack and Maddie’s room. Vlad was instantly uncomfortable. He knew they weren’t in there, but invading their personal space seemed wrong.

“Since we’re going out of order, I’m going to have to improvise,” the Master said, opening the closet. “I’ll have you buy clothes for me eventually, but for now, these will have to do.

He was holding up a bright orange jumpsuit.

“Orange is not your color,” Vlad said by way of covering his unease. The Master dropped his loincloth, letting it hit the floor while holding onto the string. Vlad looked away.

“No need to be so shy,” the Master chuckled, and Vlad looked back, noticing immediately that the jumpsuit fit better than he thought it would, a bit tight in the shoulders, a bit too loose around the waist, and Jack’s legs were shorter so the crotch line fell below where it should be, but it didn’t hang off him. Jack was not a small man by any means, and it struck Vlad just how much muscle mass the ghost had.

“You’re supposed to wear something under that you know,” Vlad snapped. “I would have thought after several centuries you’d be able to pick up on some basic facets of human culture.”

“Don’t be obtuse, it isn’t cute,” The ghost sighed. “Now I wonder… shall we bring that lubricant with us?”

Vlad’s breath caught.

“Best not,” the man said without waiting for an answer. “We want this to look spontaneous after all.”

Look?

The Master stepped forward and grabbed Vlad’s hand possessively, grinning impishly, smile wide on his broad face.

“Hey, _V-man_ , let’s go on a date.”

“Don’t… don’t call me that,” Vlad said, voice weaker than he would have liked.

“ _Vladdie_ , you deliberately avoid calling me Master, I’ll call you as I please. You could call me Jack if that makes it easier.”

Makes what easier? How could that even begin to make anything easier?

Vlad was dragged bodily from the room, trailing behind his assailant who was quickly dragging him down the stairs. Vlad hurried to move, lest he trip.

It was as he feared.

The Master reached out without hesitation and opened the front door.

“What on earth are you doing?” Vlad asked, alarmed, suspecting the answer, but refusing to acknowledge it.

“Taking you on a date, V-man, what else? Don’t you think I look just like Jack Fenton in the dark? This orange of his is as good as a full-page advertisement.”

“I told you to stop-“

“You don’t get to tell me anything, _V-man_ ,” The ghost simpered. “Unless you call me Master.”

Vlad grit his teeth. He would not. He would endure the name without comment, and the man would drop it eventually, and go back to calling him _pet_.

The black gloved hand gripped his tighter and pulled him along, into the chilly night air. The door slammed shut behind them with an air of finality.

“Come now, Vladdie, walk at my side, this is supposed to be a date after all.”

“Aren’t you the least bit concerned that people will see you?” Vlad ground out, but adjusted his stride to match the Master’s, hating himself.

“Well, that is sort of the idea,” the Master said pleasantly.

“I mean really see you,” Vlad bit out. “A ghost, walking hand in hand with the mayor?”

“You quit just a few hours ago, remember?”

“I’m still mayor until they hold the special elections.”

“It’s dark, people see what they want to see. And right now, I think they’ll see the mayor, having recently quit his job, go on a romantic liaison with his biggest flamboyant orange supporter.”

Vlad was quiet at that. There was a good chance that was exactly what people would think.

Vlad knew the rumors that circulated about him. Once, back when he was first starting out and Vladco had made most of its mergers, he’d been interviewed quite a bit by Fortune and Business Insider magazines. They had been respectful, but the Enquirer? Almost every article published in a reputable magazine was accompanied by a gossip column speculating about Vlad’s love life. Reclusive millionaire. Effeminate. Never seen with woman. Vlad remembered a picture of him shaking hands with a Hollywood actor at a charity dinner becoming a front-page Enquirer headline, because apparently the actor had been gay. It hadn’t really bothered Vlad – it was a minor annoyance. People would believe what they wanted, and any publicity was good publicity. He hadn’t been looking for a woman anyway, and he knew Maddie never read the Enquirer.

But the thought that Amity Park may believe he was romantically involved with Jack Fenton? That crossed the line. It was revolting and a perversion upon Vlad’s fragile feelings of friendship. That was even without considering what such a rumor would do to the Fenton family itself.

Vlad’s lip curled. He’d have to get the Master out from under the streetlights, this couldn’t become a headline, they couldn’t be seen together like this.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” Vlad snapped.

“I know exactly where I’m going,” the Master said, and Vlad blinked at that, his hand becoming sweaty in the Master’s grip. He hadn’t expected that.

The Master glanced his way. “What, you think I’ve been snoozing in the back of your mind all day? I’ve payed attention during your rides – though I’m confused, do you call them Assault Vehicles, RVs, cars, or limos? I’ve heard all of them and I can’t figure out if they’re all words for the same thing, or if there’s some sort of nuance. They used to just be called automobiles.”

“I suppose your lack of aesthetic appreciation shouldn’t be surprising,” Vlad muttered, “given what you think passes for clothing.”

“You may as well teach me, V-man, this is going to be a long walk, and I’m going to be stuck with you for a lifetime. It’s to your benefit if I understand this world and its technology better. I promise I’m a fast learner.”

Vlad laughed bitterly. The ghost understanding the current century would be disastrous. Vlad could only imagine what the ghost would do if he found out about certain things – little things like video cameras or far more dangerous things like internet shopping and sex toys.

“No?” The Master asked. “Pity.”

As they walked a thought slowly dawned on Vlad. The Master wasn’t familiar with what a car was. He had said he’d been without a partner for over a century. Wasn’t homosexuality a crime when the Master was last here?

“You know, going on a date with another male is illegal,” Vlad tried.

“The authorities frown on taking a woman on a date too, but if anyone’s arrested, it’s the woman for the shame of exchanging free food for sexual favors. I believe that makes you the woman here, Vladdie.”

What? Vlad found himself wondering on the history of the term ‘date’ and what it meant to the other. No time to wonder though, he had to press on if he had any hope of derailing this latest form of madness.

“Sodomy is illegal,” Vlad attempted once more. “If the town suspects Jack and I are dating, or suspect us of gross sexual misconduct, I could be thrown in jail, or executed,”

Vlad hoped that was right, he had never really studied the history of sexual deviance laws. “What would happen to you then?”

“I find people don’t really like to report others for sodomy, they just socially ostracize them. Worst case scenario, we end up in a prison cell and nothing and no one can stop me from conquering you whenever I want. It’s rather fun, actually. I once spent over one hundred and fifty years in a prison – it admittedly took some coordination, but I do so love a captive audience. There really is no negative consequence for going on a date V-man. At least, not for me.”

Vlad snapped his jaw shut. What more was there to say?

They walked. And walked. Vlad felt sweat prickle at his brow. It was late, and Amity Park tended to retire early due to its ghost problems – but anyone could see them if they looked out the window, which the Master clearly wanted but Vlad dreaded. Speaking of ghost problems, if one appeared, Vlad would be helpless, and would have to pray the Master would save him. That was less than ideal.

Vlad tried to keep track of where they were going, though he admittedly paid less attention to the layout of Amity Park than he probably should have. It was easy to find his way around when he had a driver at his beck and call, and if he ever ventured out alone as Plasmius, flight made it easy to locate major landmarks. As it stood, he wasn’t sure if they were going somewhere in particular, or if the Master just planned to parade him up and down the streets. Vlad wasn’t sure which would be worse.

After around 20 minutes of walking, Vlad was still tense, hyper vigilant of every sound, and cursing his aching feet. Armani loafers were stylish to be sure, but they weren’t meant for long distance walking.

“We’re here,” the Master said, and Vlad blinked, seeing the familiar sign. The Nasty Burger?

“We can’t go inside, you’ll cause a riot, your ears and eyes are hardly human,” Vlad said quickly.

“This town is ass-backwards, I don’t think they’d notice. I don’t intend to take you inside though. It’s better to keep this illusion going, don’t you think, V-man?” the Master quipped.

“Then what…?”

Vlad’s started to fall behind as the Master walked toward the building, not wanting to get closer to the harsh lights and neon sign. As the town’s only fast-food restaurant, it was open 24/7 and Vlad could see a handful of people sitting in the diner. He couldn’t afford to be seen by them, not with present company. The Master didn’t look like Jack, but people were sheep. He was wearing Jack’s jumpsuit. Vlad knew how he would be perceived. Amity Park was a small town and everyone knew the Fentons. And everyone knew him.

“Don’t dawdle now,” the Master chided. “The faster we move, the sooner you get out of the light.”

That was logical, but….

Vlad was barely resisting the urge to dig his heels into the concrete as he was pulled across the parking lot, stumbling as he balked at the idea of following toward wherever this was going. Only the desire to not be dragged along the filthy concrete kept him moving.

The Master seemed to have a clear goal in mind and Vlad’s brow wrinkled in consternation as he was pulled toward the back of the building, toward the dumpsters. The stench was overwhelming. Vlad could see clumps of discarded fries on the ground, and stained saucy wrappers spilling out of ripped overflowing trash bags. Vlad wrinkled his nose. Disgusting.

Being out of the glaring light of the parking lot was a relief, but Vlad resisted against the Master’s continued pull toward the dumpster. The Master grunted and gave a harsh tug, and Vlad stumbled forward before hands connected with his chest and dragged him bodily toward the back wall.

Vlad stumbled, trying to keep up, and his breath left him in a whoosh as he was shoved backward roughly into the brick building. Vlad winced. The wall was filthy, the dumpster only a few feet away, and it stank. The light from the parking lot barely reached this area, but it still did, and half of the Master’s face was visible in it.

“When most people go on dates, trash heaps tend not to be high on the list of scenic retreats,” Vlad said, covering his fear with a snarl.

“Would you rather have a romantic tryst under one of those lamps? That could be arranged,” the Master murmured, leaning in to mouth Vlad’s neck, his face concealed between Vlad and the dumpster. “I could push you into it – tie your wrists around it – shove that decorative handkerchief into your mouth. Slowly strip you down and wait to see how long it would take for everyone in this restaurant to look outside, to see you. Wait to see how long it would take them to decide to intervene. How long they’d be willing to be spectators like at some street performance. Would they realize you didn’t want to be with me? Would they call for help on your behalf?”

The Master was unbuttoning Vlad’s suit. Vlad’s breath hitched.

“I wonder. Would you scream for help around the gag? Would they hear it? Would they understand? Or would they laugh and take photos with their little ‘cell phones’?” The Master asked. Vlad looked over his shoulder as his neck was molested and froze. There was a security camera pointed directly at the dumpsters hanging from a lamppost. Abject horror clouded his mind. Did the Master even realize what it was? Was it deliberate or coincidental? He had to get away, move somewhere else-

Vlad shoved at the Master’s chest but it had all the effect of shoving a brick wall and hoping for it to topple. Worse, the Master seemed amused by it.

“If I stripped you in front of them,” the Master whispered, undoing Vlad’s shirt now, leaving his bow tie and top few buttons in place, “Would they be repulsed, or aroused? Would they shield their eyes, or stare unabashedly, thinking they could not be seen? Would they believe you wanted an audience? Would they think you were getting off on being watched?”

Vlad flinched as the hands untucked his shirt from his pants.

“Would you like to move into the lamplight and find out?”

Vlad shook his head. He wasn’t sure if the Master was being serious, but if he was…

“Use words,” The Master whispered into his neck.

“No, I would not,” Vlad bit out.

Hands on his belt, and Vlad trembled as he heard the clinking of metal as it was undone. The cold hands moved to the button of his pants and Vlad sucked his stomach in reflexively as they brushed the skin below his navel, trying to get away. The pants were undone, and the zipper pulled down. The Master seemed to thrive in his discomfort.

Vlad flinched back against the wall as his hand was grabbed and brought to the zipper of the orange jumpsuit.

“Help a friend out, woudja, Vladdie?”

The pitch of the voice was all wrong, but the inflection was horribly accurate. Vlad grit his teeth, but didn’t see a way out, so he gripped the zipper, and pulled it down to the bottom in the most businesslike manner he could manage under the circumstances.

He realized once more that the suit fit the Master wrong and unzipping it all the way had revealed his erection, and Vlad quickly removed his hand, not wanting to be close to it. The Master noticed and quickly pressed his body forward, flush against Vlad’s own, and Vlad frantically grabbed at his shoulders, shoving him away, but the hulking form easily resisted. Vlad switched tactics, grabbing at the Master’s hair, and trying to pull his head back from where it seemed permanently affixed to his neck.

That got a reaction.

Vlad’s wrists were grabbed roughly and forced down. “I don’t think so,” the Master bit out in a gravely baritone.

The Master placed Vlad’s wrists against the wall and released him, pulling off his black gloves – Jack’s black gloves – and dropping them to the ground. Vlad wasn’t going to keep his hands at his sides like a good pet. Vlad lashed out and tried to land a right hook– but the Master was faster, leaping backward before it collided with his face.

For a moment they were at a standstill as Vlad and the Master looked at each other, sizing each other up, breathing heavily.

“Don’t make this difficult,” the Master said, exasperated.

“We are not doing this here,” Vlad said venomously. It was hard to retain the venom though when he could feel his pants slowly slipping down his waist.

“My offer still stands to do it under the lamppost,” the Master said, breaking into a shit eating grin. Vlad felt his fury falter.

As if sensing his weakness, the Master darted forward again, grabbing the hands Vlad instinctively raised to defend himself, pinning them together and above his head against the filthy brick.

“Here’s the scenario for you Vladdie,” he growled, hiding his face against Vlad’s neck once more. _Out of the light_ , Vlad realized. “Jack and Maddie Fenton had a fight. You and Jack decided to get food at this decrepit restaurant and comfort each other. Except, caught up in your emotions, you turn to passion, decide to fuck outside the very restaurant you intended to patronize,”

Vlad shuddered. He’d known that was where this was headed, but didn’t like to hear it, and the role play aspect made it all the more horrifying.

“You’ve been wanting this for years,” The Master whispered.

“No,” Vlad snarled.

“You can hardly wait, can’t even take the time to get out of your clothes properly.”

Vlad writhed ineffectually.

“You want to be on top, but Jack Fenton is stronger than you, and he won’t take no for an answer. You realize you don’t mind.”

“Stop,” Vlad said, somewhat desperately. “This is absolutely crazy, you can’t do a one-sided roleplay like this, it doesn’t-“

“Your protests are silenced as Jack leans in for a kiss,”

The Master was on him, lips on his own, and Vlad balked, trying to fall backward through the wall, but his powers were gone, inaccessible, and he was just a man, and his wrists ached where they were tightly held together. He did not kiss back, and closed his mouth resolutely, determined to endure.

The Master only needed one hand to hold his wrists though. Vlad let out a desperate cry as he felt the other one slide into his underwear and grasp him tightly.

“Is this your first time? Jack asks you with a grin. You look at him and say-“

The Master paused poignantly, pulling back to look Vlad in the eye. Vlad stared incredulously.

“Nothing,” The Master continued. “Jack says, ‘Don’t worry V-man. I’ll teach you how it’s done.’”

“Stop,” Vlad hissed furiously.

“Why? Am I arousing you?”

“If you can’t tell the difference between an erect penis and a limp one even when it’s in your hand, you’re beyond helping,” Vlad said.

That got a laugh – a bizarrely genuine one out of the malicious ghost.

“I’m glad I found you,” he said. “All that fantasizing in the ghost zone, waiting for my freedom, dreaming of my first conquest, my fantasies pale in comparison to the real thing. You’re beautiful, do you know that?”

Vlad felt a clawing feeling of desperation work its way into his gut. He could still see the camera. Hopefully it was a fake to deter would be criminals, it wasn’t one of the one’s he’d installed so long ago- or if it was real, hopefully they didn’t check their security feeds unless there was an incident…

“I’m going to take off your pants and underwear,” the Master said lowly. “And you’re going to let me unless you want a knee to your manhood, are we clear?”

Vlad said nothing, but the Master didn’t seem to expect a response, and he was quick to pull the garments down to Vlad’s ankles.

“Left foot up,” he said. Vlad didn’t cooperate, but didn’t resist either as his ankle was grabbed, his shoe slipped off, and his foot taken from the pant leg.

“That’s it, V-man,” The Master praised, and Vlad grimaced, because he had hoped they were done with that. He didn’t want to be reminded of Jack in this context, especially since Jack had been willing to try to protect Vlad again, and Vlad had refused. Vlad knew Jack, and knew the decision had hurt him, as badly as it hurt Vlad to make it, but it would have hurt far worse if Jack had been forced to watch Vlad be raped by the Master – again – or worse, if the Master had forced Jack to take an active role in Vlad’s desecration…

“Don’t call me that,” Vlad tried again. “Please.”

“Call me Master, and I will call you pet,” the Master purred, leaning to suck on Vlad’s earlobe. Vlad seethed, hating the feel of hot breath at his ear. Was it worth it?

“Master,” he tried out the word. “Don’t call me that. Please,”

“Say it again,” the voice purred looking directly into Vlad’s eyes now, voice low with arousal. Vlad swallowed, his face flushing. Bad enough that he was half naked next to a filthy dumpster, bad enough he was partially illuminated in the street lights, but this…

“Master,” Vlad said, trying to speak softly so his anger wouldn’t shine through. “Please don’t call me that.”

“As you wish, pet.”

And it was a relief. It really was. Until Vlad’s left leg was grabbed below the knee and hiked up over the Master’s arm, held near his chest.

Vlad scrambled to make sure he didn’t fall, automatically placing his hands against the filthy brick behind him, wincing at the texture, his lower body manipulated forward until his ass was a decent distance from the wall itself, his shoulders taking the brunt of his weight, right foot sliding slightly before coming to a stop.

“Unhand me-“ Vlad started.

“Hang onto my shoulders, pet, it makes it more intimate.”

The Master removed his hand from Vlad’s flaccid member and stuck his fingers into his mouth. Vlad watched him suck with morbid fascination.

“No,” Vlad whispered.

“Yes,” The Master hummed, after removing his fingers with a pop.

“I… we left the lube back at…”

“I know, it didn’t fit my fantasy, sorry pet.”

Vlad knew he wasn’t sorry.

Vlad felt a finger enter him, rough and hard, and let out an embarrassing whine, trying to lower his leg from the arm which was spreading him wide, but only succeeding in nearly losing his balance, and sliding slightly down the wall.

“Shhhh.”

Lips brushed against Vlad’s in a sick parody of comfort, and Vlad pursed his own against them. The Master gave up, and moved his lips to Vlad’s neck instead, thrusting the finger roughly in and out. It burned horribly. Worse, the position seemed to further agitate Vlad’s body’s insistence that he needed to take a shit far more than any other position they’d tried – and Vlad had been in quite a few by now, but always on a bed either lying on his back or on his stomach, legs pulled and contorted every which way, but this-

Vlad moved a single hand from the wall, intending to shove the Master away but only ended up gripping his orange clad shoulder desperately as a second finger was forced into his resisting opening.

Vlad let out an audible cry at that, and Vlad could feel the lips at his throat release their hold in what could only be a smile.

“You sure you don’t want this?” teeth scraped against his neck. “You make such beautiful noises.”

“Fuck you,” Vlad half sobbed. That hadn’t been the tone he was going for.

“That’s not an answer, pet.”

It was intolerable. Vlad shifted, only to be driven back further into the wall by the fingers inside him. He tried to pull back, but that made the Master’s fingers curl into his prostate, and the stimulation was as pleasurable as it was excruciating so Vlad stopped that quickly. His only solace was that the Master only had two hands, so his dick was being left alone, uninterested as it was.

“Shhh,” the Master soothed, licking wetness from Vlad’s cheeks. Vlad hadn’t noticed until that point that tears were leaking from his eyes.

The sound of laughter greeted Vlad’s ears. He froze. Someone had exited the Nasty Burger.

Vlad’s increased tension only made the intrusion in his body more painful. Vlad held his breath, listening as the footsteps, multiple sets, headed away from him, toward the parking lot, and he willed them away. He screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to look, not wanting to make a sound-

Vlad shouted as a third finger was plunged into him.

“What was that?” a man’s voice echoed from the lot.

No. Go away, go away, go away-

“Oh shit,” a male voice laughed, a different one this time. “There’s some old dudes fucking by the dumpsters.”

Vlad’s stomach sank. His face burned. The Master hid his face in his neck, out of the light, but Vlad could almost feel his grin. Vlad knew half his face was illuminated in the lamplight, his suit jacket on, red handkerchief visible, all his trademarks. He was recognizable, he was sure, he just hoped they would go away, don’t look-

“Ewww, is that the mayor?” A woman’s voice with a slight Spanish accent.

Damn it.

Vlad felt fresh tears spring to his eyes, and he pushed at the Master, only to slide further down the wall onto the thrusting digits which stretched him wide, far too wide, and he let out another half scream at the agony of it, trying to muffle it instinctively, draw less attention. The leg the Master had lifted was closest to the light, and Vlad had no doubt if anyone looked closely enough they could see the point of penetration from the parking lot and the thought made him gag.

“I never knew he was a faggot,” the laughing male voice was back.

Why could he hear them so clearly? It wasn’t fair.

“Should we call the cops? That’s, like, public indecency,” the Latina woman asked.

“Nah, I don’t wanna stay and make a report, we’ll miss curfew,” the laugh-man was back.

“Wait, Dash, isn’t that Fenton orange?” The first man’s voice was back.

Shit. No, no, no, no-

“It is! Fenton’s dad’s a faggot too? Kwan, take a picture!”

“No way, I don’t want fag porn on my phone!”

“Yeah, but Fenton-“

“Dash, that’s low, even for you,” the Spanish woman said, “We can’t do that to Danny, he’s the only one who the ghost boy always shows up around! If he starts avoiding me, I’ll never get to speak to Danny Phantom!”

“But this is gold-“

_I can hear you!_ Vlad wanted to scream, but it was becoming increasingly apparent these were children, Danny’s classmates, and nothing good could come of getting them involved. Where were their parents? What kind of parents let kids stay out ‘til midnight anyway?

“Dash, this is just gross, leave them alone, and let’s get out of here,” the woman demanded.

A sigh. “Fine. Can we at least tell Fenton-”

“No!” the woman shouted. “Danny Phantom is my destiny! You will not ruin this for me!”

“Ok, ok, sheesh,” the one called Dash said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Vlad relaxed minutely as he heard their retreating footsteps. A chuckle.

“That was fun.”

Vlad let out a raking sob. This couldn’t be happening.

He choked as the fingers were pulled from him roughly.

“Enough,” Vlad said brokenly. “Enough. Let’s… let’s just go, you’ve accomplished your goal, the town will find out, please-“

The Master hiked Vlad’s leg up higher and Vlad’s words died in his throat as the Master used his left hand to guide his member to Vlad’s entrance. Vlad felt the head of the erect cock pressing against him.

“Don’t….”

The Master pushed in.

The noise that left Vlad’s throat was animalistic and he barely registered it as his own as pain exploded from where he was penetrated, and he gripped the Master’s shoulders with both hands as tight as he could, right leg trembling in its efforts to support him, shoulders driven into the wall by the force thrusting into him.

Vlad’s head snapped back into the wall as he tried to escape and he groaned at the sharp, throbbing pain it inspired. It was a welcome distraction from the pain in his lower body though. He felt uncomfortably and impossibly full. Each thrust seemed to pull his insides with it, clinging roughly, the movement harsh and painful, and Vlad swallowed, head tilted back, gritting his teeth, trying to contain his urge to scream.

“Stop,” Vlad choked. “Stop, stop, stop-“

“Shhh, pet, shhh”

Vlad shoved violently, only to slip down dangerously onto the intrusion. The Master caught him in his descent, grabbing his leg, and hiking him up against the wall until he was fully upright.

“Easy,” he murmured. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

“Fuck off!”

“Shhh”

“I’ve had it, I’ve-“

The Master’s left hand, which had been resting impotently on Vlad’s hip, suddenly gripped Vlad’s limp member tightly. Vlad swallowed his words.

The Master gave him an experimental stroke, but Vlad could barely feel it, so consumed by the pain. Lashing out suddenly seemed far more dangerous. The Master’s pace increased, and something in his position must have changed, because it seemed to reach far deeper. The Master ran his thumb over the head of Vlad’s cock and pulled back the foreskin slightly. Vlad groaned as his prostate was directly struck by the head of the cock within him causing a violent wave of pleasure to flood him.

“Stop,” Vlad whimpered, his breath hitching. His cock was still mercifully flaccid, but if the Master kept this up, Vlad knew it would eventually take interest despite the pain, despite the degradation, and wasn’t he just too _easy_ , too unused to being touched by anything besides his own right hand that he reacted far too readily, and he hated himself, hated it-

The door to the restaurant opened and Vlad moaned, low in his throat, trying again to phase through the wall though he knew it was impossible, though the reach into the emptiness where his powers once resided was almost physically painful. Not again.

“Scream for me,” The Master’s voice growled into his ear.

Vlad clamped his mouth shut, aware of the footsteps, head tilted back against the wall, desperately trying to reign in his sounds, but whimpers and grunts were escaping him despite his best efforts and warmth was slowly pooling in his belly, and he was sure he was going to die, he was being split apart, and it shouldn’t be possible to feel pleasure amongst all the pain, it shouldn’t be…

The footsteps were slowing down. Stopping. No. Keep moving, keep moving.

“Uh… dudes?” They were approaching. “You can’t…. you can’t do this here, this is a family establishment…” the male voice said hesitatingly.

Vlad grit his teeth so tightly his jaw ached, he couldn’t open his eyes, and really, did this look consensual? Did he look like he was enjoying it? Were his tears not obvious enough in the lamplight? Couldn’t he just go away?

“We’re busy,” the Master growled, his face hidden behind Vlad’s. “Run along little man.”

“I… you’re setting a horrible example for the public, mayor Masters.”

Vlad let out a sound at that. He recognized him too. This was insane.

“Moron…” Vlad grunted out, but it came out weak and warped, likely impossible to understand. He couldn’t bring himself to ask for help. He could hear the fear and hesitation in the man’s voice. It wouldn’t end well if he did.

“Look, I… I don’t care what you do,” the stranger continued, “But… there’s teenagers in there, and you can’t just…”

“We’re almost finished,” The Master said, panting lewdly. “See how full he is? See how hard I make him?”

And Vlad was.

“I… you’re disgusting… You can’t… you-“

“Run along,” The Master growled.

“I’m… I’m calling the police…”

“You do that,” the Master said. Vlad felt a mixture of relief and despair. Maybe the police wouldn’t be such a bad thing at this stage…

The man seemed to be backing up. “Insane… you’re both insane…”

Vlad let out a strangled cry, breathy and pained, as the Master bit his neck with almost enough force to puncture the skin. The footsteps scampered away. Vlad heard the sound of a car door opening and closing and an engine starting.

“Pervert,” The Master chuckled. “He talked big, but he was hard. He loved seeing you like this. I don’t think he’ll be calling, he’ll hide from his shame. We have more time, don’t you worry.”

Vlad moaned in dismay, unsure whether the words were true, but registering that this would continue. _Just let it end. Let it be over._ He couldn’t take this. The whole world would know. Had photos been taken? Vlad prayed not. He couldn’t track cell phones but he could do something about the Nasty Burger. He’d have to destroy that camera. Destroy the tapes, if they existed. The Master’s body was in the way of the camera, but he may still be recognizable.

“Here it comes,” the Master grunted. “Almost-“

The Master’s body convulsed and he let out a guttural moan. Vlad stiffened as the Master’s body leaned into his, and he felt warmth spurting around the intrusion in his anus, down his leg. Vlad shuddered, and his leg trembled, and once it started he couldn’t seem to make it stop.

The cock within him was softening, and it was pulled out roughly, and his leg was released. Vlad collapsed back against the wall fully with a groan, and started sliding down it, only coming to a stop when his bare ass hit the concrete – the filthy, disgusting, trash strewn concrete- legs splayed out in front of him, and he grunted at the pain of it, body shivering, hands shaking, it was over, it was over-

“Want me to take care of that?”

The Master gestured at Vlad’s raging erection. Vlad shook his head frantically.

“Your loss then,” The Master said, roughly carding his hand through Vlad’s hair- and he was gone, and Vlad was left staring at an empty orange jumpsuit.

Vlad blinked rapidly. He honestly hadn’t been expecting that. And now he was in full view of the camera.

Vlad struggled to his feet, hyperaware of his arousal. It wasn’t going away. Where was a cold shower when he needed one? He was going to get blue balls, but he wasn’t going to touch himself, he wasn’t.

Vlad stood slowly, using the wall for support. He floundered a bit, trying to get his left foot back into his underwear, back into his pant leg, but he was trembling, and his body wasn’t cooperating with him.

Finally, he succeeded, and he bent down to pull up his pants, nearly toppling forward at the motion, catching himself at the last moment.

Vlad got the underwear back in place somewhat easily, but his pants were proving more of a challenge. He hadn’t attempted to force pants up over an erection since he was in high school.

Vlad bit his lip and tried to calm down, thought of the latest financial statements of Vladco, closing his left hand into a fist, fingernails digging into his palms. He focused on the pain, focused on the numbers, and after about a minute he’d been successful in willing his arousal away, and he was finally able to do up the zipper though his hands trembled. It took Vlad far longer than he would have liked to do up the button and fasten the belt, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered the police may be on their way.

His shirt was untucked, and that was not professional, but Vlad couldn’t bring himself to give a damn and buttoned it as it was and did the suit after, breathing through his nose, trying to stave off the panic attack he felt building.

Vlad looked around and found his left shoe a few feet away and got his foot back into it. After a brief moment of hesitation, he grabbed the discarded orange jumpsuit and shoved it into the dumpster. Hopefully the trash would be taken out before it was found. He looked around wearily at the parking lot. Which way was home?

He paused at the thought. He had thought of the Fentons when he thought that word. Home.

He took a moment to think, to remember the route he had taken. And, wincing at the pain the movement caused -he had been torn this time, surely- Vlad began to walk.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

_11:00 pm, Wednesday, April 18 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

In theory, it had been a good idea. Keep herself and her family safe in the Ops Center. Let Vlad deal with his fate. They lacked adequate weapons. Vlad would suffer worse if they intervened.

All excuses.

The Fentons were supposed to be sleeping. But how could they possibly? She, Jazz and Danny had all still been discussing potential ideas for how to prevent another incident with Vlad that night, how to keep him safe, all the way up until they almost surpassed the 11pm deadline. It was a school night. The children should be sleeping. Everyone was wide awake.

The only consolation was that Maddie was reasonably certain they’d be able to end it all tomorrow, one way or another. It was a risky plan, and it still needed some fine tuning – and the involvement of all the Fentons, including one Danny Phantom.

Jack had to know for their plan to work. Which is why the Fentons were in the main console room of the Ops Center, still awake, still talking – where Maddie could see the feed of the video surveillance cameras in the hallway.

“Danny Phantom…? My son is…”

Jack was in a state of shock. It was understandable.

“I know dear… it’s a lot to take-“

“Sweet! We can kick ghost butt together! Hey, what was that thing with Mayor Montez?” Jack went from enthusiasm to confusion in a snap.

“I- heh, heh, I can explain that-“

“Ok, doesn’t matter,” Jack said, reaching forward and crushing Danny in a bear hug. Maddie never ceased to be amazed by the accepting nature of her husband – whether it was because he was a genuinely forgiving person or because he found it too much of a pain to go against the flow, Maddie was sometimes uncertain. Forgiving Vlad though…. But the more she thought about it the harder a time she had reconciling the Vlad of today with a murderous fiend. It was hard to think.

“Jack, you’re crushing him,” Maddie reprimanded.

“Whoops, sorry son. Think you can help me test out some of my weapons?”

“Jack!” Maddie scolded harshly.

“What?” Genuine confusion. Maddie facepalmed.

“You can’t just go from trying to kill Danny Phantom to experimenting on Danny!” she shouted.

“But I didn’t know he was our son then, this is different! I’ve got all sorts of ideas-“

“Jack, we absolutely will not be experimenting on our son, in any way, shape, or form!”

“Awe…” Jack pouted. “But… what if his ghost physiology hurts him, or makes him sick? We should-“

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Danny said.

But Maddie frowned. There were all kinds of unknown potential complications. How did it work? Her scientist’s brain desperately demanded answers, but…

“No experimentation on Danny, no matter what the benefits.” A line had to be drawn. “That’s final.”

Jack pouted. However, like most negative moods with Jack, it barely lasted a second before his eyes lit up again.

“So… what’s your plan then? How are we going to save Vladdie?”

“I-“

A beeping sound came from the console. All eyes locked on it. The motion sensor Maddie had engaged had been triggered.

Maddie rushed towards the screen. The Master had stepped into the hallway.

Maddie scowled at his visage, and instinctively put her hand on the ecto gun in her belt. Which would do nothing against this ghost. She moved her hand to the stun gun instead.

The Master paused outside the door before ducking his head back in. A moment later Vlad emerged, fully dressed, and the two disappeared into the master bedroom.

“Hey, no ghosts allowed in Jack Fenton’s room!” Jack bellowed. “Maddie, please let me go down there and-“

“No Jack, we cannot have a repeat of what happened yesterday!”

“We’re fine, Maddie-“

“Yes, because of Vlad!” Maddie snapped, and that truth stung. She was still angry at him. But she wouldn’t have been if he hadn’t confessed and that confused her all the more. Jack looked a little guilty, but still grimly determined.

“Then let’s return the favor,” he said. “We can lie in wait outside the door, sneak up on him-“

“And if Vlad exits first, or the ghost manages to touch Vlad and disappear, then what?” Maddie demanded. Jack looked horribly frustrated and desperate and Maddie looked away.

“Kids, go to bed, I’ll watch the monitors and make sure the Ops center is safe,” Maddie said quickly. There were no cameras in any of the bedrooms but… she wasn’t entirely sure what they’d end up catching in the hallways.

The motion alarm went off again.

“Hey…” Jack said again. “He’s stealing my clothes!”

Maddie quickly changed camera view, following as the Master, clad as Jack Fenton – and the jumpsuit really looked terrible on him, it clung and drooped in all sorts of weird places – dragged Vlad through the house.

“They’re leaving,” Jazz said softly, and Maddie’s reprimand died on her tongue. She wouldn’t have left the room either in Jazz’s shoes, so how could she possibly scold her for it?

“What should we do?” Danny asked. “Want me to tail them?”

“No,” Maddie said, “Daniel Fenton, it is a school night, and that is a very, very, dangerous ghost!”

“He can’t fly though…” Danny said darkly.

“Absolutely not!” Really. Danny Phantom may act as a super hero, but Maddie knew her son, he was 14, and there was only so much she was willing to let him face.

“Maddie…” Jack began cautiously. “What if he’s taking Vladdie away for good? What if he thinks we’re too much of a threat?”

“Then we’ll find Vlad first thing tomorrow,” Maddie said firmly. “The Master can’t stay in the physical world forever, and that jumpsuit sticks out. They won’t go far.”

Everyone was upset. Maddie could sense it as much as she could see it. The risks were just too high, the costs far to large, to attempt to tail Vlad. As much as she wanted to.

“I’ll stay in this room so I can hear when he gets back,” Maddie consoled. “But we really need to make sure we go over this plan – and Jack, I need you to promise me you can keep the details to yourself, because if you slip, this whole thing is going to fall apart.”

Jack nodded gravely. “I may be a bumbler, but I can keep it together when a life is on the line. I’ll keep quiet around Vlad. I swear it.”

Danny was giving Maddie a look. He clearly didn’t have faith that Jack could manage it. Maddie was a little worried too, to be honest.

“Alright, just try to let Vlad work tomorrow, Jack. Now that it’s been announced that he’s resigning as Mayor, he’ll be expected to do more work for Vladco.”

“Wait, Vlad resigned as mayor?” Danny asked incredulously.

Maddie nodded. “It was a condition of his forgiveness and redemption.”

“Wow, I never expected… wow.”

Maddie nodded. “It’s late, and we don’t have much time. Let’s begin…”

_2:55 pm, Thursday, April 19 th, Casper High_

_~Danny~_

Danny slammed his locker shut with enough force that the whole thing caved in. Damn it.

“Danny, I know it sucks, but you have to calm down!” Sam snapped.

“Yeah dude, no one really believes it about your dad-“

Tucker cowered under Danny’s harsh glare. “That’s not the problem, Tuck,” he snarled. “The problem is who it actually was! Vlad can’t press charges against a ghost, he’s going to have to deny it, or laugh it off, and it’s not fair!”

Danny glared at the crushed locker and quickly made the lock intangible to pull it open. He gave it a swift punch from the other side. There. It was marginally better. He let it close again.

“Well, it could be worse!” Tucker said brightly, though Danny could detect the strain in his tone. “There could be photos. But there aren’t, or we would have seen them by now!”

“I wonder who started the rumor…” Sam said darkly. “I wouldn’t have expected them to keep their identity hidden.”

“At least it seems to be restricted to Casper High,” Danny said, dejected. “It’ll pass like any other false, unsubstantiated rumor. Everyone’s saying ‘hey, did you hear the weird rumor where’ and not ‘did you hear that’, so that’s something. I doubt it will stick around longer than…”

Danny trailed off.

“Is it a ghost?” Tucker asked, dropping his voice. Danny shook his head quickly. It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption, Danny often went quiet when he sensed something. But this…

“Guys, didn’t the rumor say dad and Vlad hooked up outside of the Nasty Burger?” Danny asked frantically.

“Yes…?” Sam said slowly, seemingly not grasping where Danny was going.

“They have security cameras! Not as much as when Vlad owned it, but they do!” He hissed. “We have to go, see if they have tapes, and destroy them. Vlad can’t right now, he doesn’t have his powers!”

Sam and Tucker were momentarily speechless.

“Dude, I’ll never get used to helping Vlad,” Tucker said with a groan. “Are you sure he’ll want them destroyed?”

“Vlad hasn’t turned himself into protective custody from the police or Guys in White,” Danny pointed out. “Pretty sure that means he doesn’t want anyone to know.”

“I could eat,” Tucker said. “You’re paying, though.”

“I can’t, I’ve got to get home for dinner, if mom’s right, we should be ready to save Vlad, and I don’t want him to … deal with this… any longer than he has to.”

“Alright, we’ll make it a pit stop,” Tucker said. “Just sodas or something. Come on, it’s only a ten minute walk.”

***

Danny found himself contemplating once more just how bizarre this situation was, and he prayed after today he’d never again encounter a ghost such as the Master. It was seriously killing his determination to map the ghost zone. Now he was no longer sure what types of monsters could lurk behind those doors.

Danny scoured the back offices of the Nasty Burger, invisible and intangible, looking for potential tapes. Finally, he found it, a computer system and tiny monitors. He looked carefully. He had been looking for something like a VHS, so it took him a while to recognize the little boxes as tapes. Danny examined them. They were labeled with camera numbers and days of the week for the past week. Danny quickly located all of those labeled 4/18 for 4 cameras, gathered them in his hands, and let out a contained blast. The tapes crumbled.

He was about to leave before he hesitated. When did the tapes get switched out? He looked at the glowing light of a tape deck. After a brief moment of hesitation, he ejected all 4 tapes and fried them too. Danny quickly walked through the walls, ducked under the table at which Sam and Tucker sat, and materialized as Danny Fenton once more, pulling himself into the seat.

“So?” Sam asked casually, sipping her soda.

“I got it,” Danny said happily.

“Good,” she said. “Danny, I’m worried about Vlad, but I’m worried about you more. How risky is this plan?”

“Very,” Danny said grimly. “But mostly for Vlad. This ends today.”

“We should get going then,” Sam said. “So you can prepare. Call us when it’s over?”

“Of course.”

***

_7:05 pm, Thursday, April 19th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad was… unsettled. After he had gotten back the night before – after only one wrong turn – he had showered, checked himself for tearing (against all odds, there was none), re-taped his nose, and collapsed into bed. He even managed to resist complaining as the Master used him as a human pillow, too tired and emotionally drained to argue. He had a full eight hours of sleep, even if they were a bit restless.

It had taken him a while to notice a strange vibe with Jack. He hadn’t been able to look at him for a good portion of the morning, as doing so reminded him of the Master in that orange jumpsuit. When he finally managed to collect himself, he noticed Jack’s odd behavior. He wasn’t blathering about ghosts. He wasn’t looking Vlad in the eye. In fact, attempts to engage him in discussion were quickly diverted, and Jack encouraged him to work.

Not that Vlad didn’t need to. The people he’d delegated his duties to while mayor were more than happy to have their CEO back in the driver’s seat, making decisions for Vladco. Vlad was able to remote into his office from the Fenton’s PC, even if it was lower tech than he would have liked. Finances were stable, and his robot companion ventures were showing promise in initial testing. Vlad realized with some regret he actually would miss running the company, it was his one promise to Jack he was reluctant to keep. Maybe he could change Jack’s mind.

But the very fact that Vlad was getting work done at all, without Jack interrupting was incredibly strange, especially given the fact that Jack was occupying the same room. He didn’t seem mad at him, but was acting as if he thought speaking to Vlad would cause some extremely detrimental effect. Vlad was at a loss, especially since every time he looked up, he caught Jack quickly looking away.

It was driving him absolutely nuts.

The only thing he could think was that somehow Jack knew about what the Master had done – how the Master had pretended to be him – but even if the Fentons had cameras (which they probably did, Vlad wouldn’t think on it too much) they had left the house, so how could Jack know anything? Although, Vlad supposed, Jack surely noticed how Vlad had added pillows to the metal Ops Center chairs and likely understood what that implied… was that what this was about?

Just when Vlad had thought he could no longer stand it, Maddie had asked for a meal request from him. Anything he wanted. It was getting weirder.

That was how Vlad found himself, vexed, and exceedingly confused, at the Fenton dinner table, finishing the last of the grilled chicken and summer squash he’d requested.

“Ok,” Vlad said finally. “I know my presence has been putting you all under a lot of stress, but I swear, if the tension gets any higher in this room the plates are going to start spontaneously shattering.”

“Sorry Vlad,” Maddie said with a dejected air. “We just haven’t made any progress and it’s killing us. There’s one more test I want to run after dinner, if you don’t mind? I want to see if your whole body disrupts ectoplasm, or just that tattoo.”

“I won’t let you shoot me Maddie,” Vlad said, trying for a light-hearted tone, recalling one of their earlier sessions when they had been working together.

“Not shoot,” Maddie said seriously. “Well – ok, shoot, but it’s just ectoplasmic goop.”

“Wonderful,” Vlad groaned. “Sure, why not?”

“Great,” Maddie smiled softly. “Help me wash the dishes?”

Vlad did. As he and Maddie worked, he noticed the other Fentons seemed to have vanished. After the experiment was over, Vlad would need to find some excuse to swing by the Nasty Burger. Surely the shop owner could be bribed to destroy the tapes…

“I’m sorry,” Maddie said spontaneously. Vlad was shaken from his thoughts, looking up from where he was washing chicken off a plate.

“Whatever for?” He asked.

“For not being able to find a way to hurt the Master,” Maddie said softly. “For letting you suffer.”

“You’re not letting me do anything, you still haven’t given up.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, before quickly looking away.

“Vlad, you may be a pretentious, controlling asshole, you always have been, but you were a good friend when it came down to it, in all the ways that counted. I still don’t think I would have graduated freshman year if you didn’t draw up that study plan.”

“I like the compliments, but a little less sass would be nice…” Vlad said slowly.

“The point is Vlad, I liked you when I could trust that you were being nice because you were my friend, rather than looking to get some type of romantic or sexual payout. After all you said yesterday, I now no longer know if I ever knew you at all.”

Vlad nodded, chest aching. “I know. I suppose I really always have been the type to desire control over all aspects of my life, including the people in it. Now, I have none whatsoever. I can’t …. I can’t guarantee that I’m a better person now, Maddie, or that I’ve changed. It may just be the stress talking.”

Vlad looked at her, determined. “I have always loved you, but somewhere it got twisted. I don’t know how, and I didn’t know how to fix it. I started looking at you as something to possess, to… to conquer, to own, instead of as a friend. But now…. I can’t even think thoughts like that without reminding myself of _him_ …” Vlad spat.

“I can’t guarantee the feelings are gone, but I need you in my life Maddie, even if it’s not in the way I envisioned back in college. I’ll do whatever it takes not to lose you. You can trust me on at least that much.”

Maddie sighed. “There’s so much I want to say to you. I want to scream at you, get it all out in the open. Like Jack said, we’ll need open and honest communication if we want to get through this.” Maddie dried the last plate. “There are friends who are more easily earned, more easily kept, and more easily trusted than you, you know,” she said.

“But none who have an interest in ghosts,” Vlad said after a moment of hesitation.

“True,” she smiled at him. “Come on Vlad, let’s get you to the lab and complete this test.”

Vlad could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he made to follow Maddie. She was playing with his heart but seemed to be stopping just shy of snapping it in two. Vlad would be lying if he said he didn’t find the way her hips swayed in her skin-tight jumpsuit as she descended the steps attractive, but those were just base urges that could be overcome. Jack and Maddie may have screwed up in leaving him to his fate at the hospital, but Vlad had screwed up even before that. He was the one who decided being denied Maddie’s love was enough to invalidate nearly six years of friendship with Jack. Vlad was determined to try to be a good friend again, and now that they all knew of his past nefarious designs, it would be harder to slip.

The portal was on, and open. That was different.

“Please stand near that table there, and take off your shirt,” Maddie said. “This is the ecto-foamer. It dispenses ectoplasm. I want to see how the tattoo reacts.”

Vlad’s mouth went dry. She… wanted his shirt off? He knew it was for a professional reason, but the way he looked right now…

“Vlad, this will only take a moment,” she said.

Vlad swallowed and nodded. Maddie looked away.

Vlad thought absently of how all he ever seemed to do lately was dress and undress. He’d have to consider scaling back his wardrobe if this kept up.

Too soon, he had removed everything from his chest, and Vlad instinctively folded his arms defensively, a childish part of his brain not wanting to tell Maddie he had finished.

She looked up at him anyway, without being told, and when she did, much to Vlad’s alarm, he saw tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said simply. Vlad assumed it was pity – she saw all the bruises. But before he could open his mouth to reassure her-

Vlad was flying backwards, something large impacting his chest with impressive force. The ecto-foamer! His brain scrambled to make sense. It had been fired, but instead of ectoplasm it had expelled a percussive force and Vlad was flying backward, into the ghost zone.

His broken thoughts were trying to pull together, to make sense of his surroundings, suddenly seeing the green of the ghost zone, its doors, its ectoplasm – except he couldn’t breathe. His chest felt impossibly tight and he just vaguely made out a sharp stinging from somewhere within the blunt force impact. Vlad grabbed at it desperately and his hands came away with a dart. Empty. What?

The thought had barely formed when Vlad convulsed, feeling like he had been hit with a truck and he realized with some terror something was wrong, very, very, very wrong, his heart, his heart-

Vlad clawed at his chest frantically and realized vaguely that Maddie had done this to him, she had poisoned him, and he was dying. Vlad wanted to feel anger, resentment, rage… but as the green of the ghost zone faded to purple then disappeared entirely into the blackness all Vlad could feel was that he probably deserved it.

***

_7:15 pm, Thursday, April 19 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie had been fighting a lump in her throat ever since starting to wash the dishes. She had felt that maybe she should say something comforting to Vlad, but anything he would have liked to hear, like declarations of love for him, would have been patently false.

All Maddie had been able to do was be honest with him and with herself. Vlad had admitted to attempted murder against her family – but Maddie was actually going to kill him.

Well… temporarily. Hopefully. The plan was fragile and there was a large margin for error, and she just had to pray the book Danny and Jazz had found was correct, and the Master couldn’t stay within a deceased host.

Maddie hoped Vlad couldn’t see how nervous she was as they traveled to the lab. How sweat was beading on her brow, her heart pounding…

“Please stand near that table there, and take off your shirt,” she said. “This is the ecto-foamer. It dispenses ectoplasm. I want to see how the tattoo reacts.”

Lies. It was an ecto-foamer in name only – it was in fact a modified Fenton bazooka. She only had one shot. Worse still, she’d had to make use of existing drugs in her home to make up the sedative that would weaken Vlad’s muscles badly enough to cause his heart and lungs to become unable to function. She had the anti-agent. The theory was sound, but in practice…

“Vlad, this will only take a moment,” she said, seeing his hesitation, trying to control her voice. She wasn’t certain why he was hesitating. Had he seen through to her intentions?

Vlad swallowed and nodded. Maddie looked away, seeing the trust he was putting her and suddenly unable to stand it. Maybe she was just as bad as he was.

Maddie listened to the sound of rustling clothing and looked up when the sounds stopped. Vlad was standing where she had ordered, hands crossed over his chest defensively, the ugly tattoo on full display. He had other bruises, she noted, but the marks on his face still stood out most prominently, especially the new black eye Jack had given him. They’d added to his injuries. And she was going to gamble with his life without his consent.

The lump in Maddie’s throat grew more firm, and she felt tears spring to her eyes. These had been emotionally trying days, but this was the final straw. Her hand trembled over the trigger. One shot. One blast. The gun would give off a percussive burst enough to knock back, a dart with the drug within the shot. Maddie had practiced. Briefly. Not enough.

“I’m sorry,” she said simply. It was all she could say for what she was feeling. No words would be enough.

Vlad seemed about to say something- Maddie didn’t give him the chance and pulled the trigger.

His body flew backward with almost comical force – the human body should never move like that – and he vanished into the open portal.

“Now!” Maddie shouted, immediately going to move.

“I’ve started the timer,” Jazz said from behind her. Maddie knew her family was suddenly visible from where Danny had hidden them. They only had one chance at this. Everyone knew their role.

Maddie dropped her Fenton Bazooka and darted into the specter speeder, starting the engine. Danny Phantom flew overhead straight through the portal. One shot. One chance. Maddie’s hands were damp within her gloves. They had to make it count.

Maddie now knew what she hadn’t before. There was gravity in the ghost zone, but it was greatly reduced. Vlad would have fallen a bit, but not so fast that he couldn’t be caught.

She edged the speeder into the ghost zone, frantically looking for where he went. He wasn’t hard to find.

Hands clutching at his chest, his eyes vacant and shocked, floating back…. And a thick black sludge seeping from his chest, taking shape, and suddenly the hulking form of the Master was crouching atop Vlad’s body, feet on his sternum, hands gripping his limp arms, fire in his eyes, staring directly at Maddie.

Phase two. Separate them. The Specter Speeder was now equipped with bolas, the best weapon she had been able to think of. Danny hovered far above, waiting for the all clear, to grab Vlad’s body.

Maddie fired. The Master jumped, pushing off of Vlad like he was a human platform, causing Vlad’s body to sink rapidly as the Master rose.

Hulking muscle, pale skin and firey black eyes, mouth drawn in a snarl, rapidly rising toward the Specter speeder. Maddie fired again.

He couldn’t dodge this time. Nothing to push off of. The rope caught him, the weight of the balls quickly drawing it tight, wrapping him up as his body cascaded backward from the blow, straight back in the weird ghost zone gravity, away from the portal and away from Vlad.

Maddie saw Danny dart downward and stop Vlad’s descent toward the bottom of the ghost zone, hauling him up and back through the portal behind her.

Maddie gave the Master one last look, his eyes wide, body squirming ineffectually. He was yelling something. Maddie didn’t think she had felt more hatred for another entity, human or ghost, in her entire life. He was too far away to ever have hope of clawing his way back out. They could make sure he was permanently disabled later. Now was not the time.

Maddie navigated the specter speeder back around and through the portal once more.

As she emerged she saw Danny had laid Vlad out on the lab table, and Jack and Jazz had made good progress setting up the monitors.

Jazz was hooking up the last of the heart monitors, and Jack had plunged the syringe with the anti-agent into the vein in Vlad’s forearm as Maddie got out of the specter speeder and rapidly approached.

“Time?” Maddie demanded. Jazz checked her stopwatch.

“Forty-five seconds,” she said.

“Excellent,” Maddie said. It was better than they had hoped. The brain could only survive without oxygen for so long. “Jack, tilt his head back and open his mouth.”

Jack did. Maddie had no official medical training, but she had never been one to turn down new knowledge. She had many friends, and when one had become a doctor, Maddie had shadowed her. They kept in touch, and she occasionally was able to help Maddie get licensing for drug shipments, which came in handy. One thing Maddie had been taught was how to intubate. Actually doing it, versus seeing it though…

Maddie forced herself to calm down. Nervousness would not help. She located the windpipe, differentiating it from the esophagus and used the tool to guide the endotracheal tube into place, securing the air bag to the other end.

“Jack, listen,” she demanded, and Jack quickly put the stethoscope in his ears and placed it on Vlad’s chest. Maddie squeezed the bag.

“Breath sounds?” she asked.

“It’s good, it’s in place,” Jack replied.

“Jazz-“

“On it,” Jazz replied, taking the bag.

She could hear the heart monitor, flatlined. “Starting compressions,” Maddie announced. They had to get the anti-agent through Vlad’s system.

Maddie kept up compressions for 30 beats.

“Checking,” she said, backing off.

“Minute 15,” Danny said, hovering above them all, having taken the stopwatch. Maddie heard the blare of the heart monitor. Jack was already setting up the shock pads for the defibrillator.

“Clear!” Maddie said, not wanting to risk her husband forgetting. Jack pressed the button to discharge.

Vlad’s body convulsed, his eyes still open and vacant, and Maddie could see the bruises starkly now, face, neck, scattered over his chest and abdomen, clustered at his hips…

The monitor had given a single blip before flatlining again.

“Resuming compressions,” Maddie said and she began again.

She counted compressions. Jazz squeezed the bag to pump air. Jack stood watching the defibrillator regain its charge.

“Checking,” Maddie said, and everyone stopped, looking to the monitor to seeing if it would register change. Nothing.

“Clear!” Maddie said. Jack discharged the defibrillator again. Again, Vlad’s body arched with it, but then it stilled, no change. Maddie felt the beginnings of panic.

“Minute forty-five,” Danny said.

“Resuming compressions!” Maddie ordered. They would not give up, damn it!

Danny had disappeared into the ceiling above her. Maddie was alarmed but had no time to question it, she had to focus.

“Jack, give Vlad another dose of the anti-agent,” she ordered. There was a possibility it could cause a seizure if he was given too much, but at this rate…

Maddie observed Jack as he found a vein once more and administered the injection. Maddie was sure he had done it right. She continued compressions, sweat pouring down her face and dripping on Vlad below. This wasn’t good. He was so… lifeless.

Danny was back, and he seemed to be messing with the portal. There was no time.

“Checking!” Maddie ordered and everyone stopped, seeing if Vlad would resume breathing, if his heart would beat without someone pounding on it. Nothing.

“Should we shock him again?” Jazz asked.

“One more time,” Maddie said through gritted teeth. The human body wasn’t meant for this.

“Clear!” she ordered. Jack dutifully discharged the defibrillator. Maddie could almost feel pain as Vlad lifelessly convulsed with it again. There was a single additional beat after the shock and for a moment, Maddie thought they had him back – then he flatlined again.

“Two minutes, thirty seconds, no time!” Danny shouted. Maddie blinked and Vlad’s body had been removed from the table, monitors gone, only the ventilator still trapped in place as suddenly Danny grabbed Vlad’s body and placed it in the hollow where the portal had been turned off.

“Danny, what are you doing?!” Maddie demanded frantically. Her eyes tracked to the open photo album on the floor, and Vlad’s lifeless body inside the portal. Danny’s hand was glowing green as he aimed at the internal power switch. Maddie realized what he was attempting with sudden horror.

“Danny, he’s already dead, you can’t make him half ghost-“

“I’m not! I’m jumpstarting him!” Danny bellowed, and he discharged the ecto-blast before Maddie could protest.

Green light exploded from the portal, and Maddie shielded her eyes briefly at it, only to open them, seeing Vlad’s body enshrined in a green glow, actually floating upward with the blast of energy as the portal failed to generate a dimensional rift with a biological obstruction in the way. Failing to achieve its purpose, the portal fizzled out, and Vlad’s body collapsed back to the ground.

_Danny…_ Maddie thought forlornly, imagining her son in Vlad’s place. _Vlad…_ if he hadn’t been dead already, Maddie had no doubt that would have killed him, the fact that Danny had withstood such a thing had to be an anomaly. Hundreds of humans could have endured the same thing and all would have ended up dead, and now Vlad-

Black rings exploded from Vlad’s chest as the green energy of the failed rift faded. As the black energy traveled, Vlad’s bare chest and black pants were quickly replaced with a white ensemble, and as the rings reached his face his hand darted up and grabbed the tubes protruding from his throat and pulled, and suddenly a blue and white vampire ghost was where Vlad had been moments before, coughing and hacking, sitting up in the empty portal, grabbing at his throat as the last of the tube left him. The Wisconsin Ghost.

Maddie’s mind went blank. As she watched, the ghost seemed to be slowly sinking through the floor.

“Woah there, fruitloop,” Danny shouted, grabbing his shoulders, quickly rescuing him from the ground and hauling him to his feet. “Don’t you go dying on us again.”

The Wisconsin ghost- Vlad- was looking at his black gloved hands in wonder as Danny gripped his cape.

A violent cough nearly brought him to his knees, stopped only by Danny’s grip, and the black lights spawned again, and suddenly a bruised and half naked Vlad Masters stood weakly before them. Even as she watched the bruises on his face were fading, and when he looked at her Maddie felt a vice close around her throat.

“I… you… killed me,” Vlad said. He didn’t sound angry about it though, he sounded… “I’m alive? Why? … Why?”

“Easy there, Plasmius, we don’t want you dead,” Danny said. “Promise. The Master’s gone. And he’s not coming back.”

Vlad looked at Maddie, Jack and Jazz in turn, wide eyed, frightened, and Maddie felt incapable of speech, her emotions running too high to separate, not sure if she was mad, relieved, happy, sad…

“I … transformed in front of you…” Vlad said slowly. “I’m sorry, I said you’d meet him eventually, the accident…”

Of course. They had done this to Vlad.

Maddie still didn’t know what she felt, what she thought, in regards to her old friend but she knew what she wanted to do.

Maddie quickly surged forward and gripped him in a tight hug. Danny let go in shock and Vlad held his arms wide as if unsure what to do. Maddie didn’t care and rested her chin on his bare shoulder, gripping him as though he may just vanish, and she felt a sob escape her before she even realized she was crying.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, you’re going to be ok,” she babbled. Arms encircled her and Vlad from behind Maddie where Jack had joined the mix. Maddie felt Vlad’s arms slowly come to rest around the both of them.

“It’s good to have you back, Vlad,” Danny’s voice said.

“…Good to be back,” Maddie felt Vlad’s voice reverberate, weak and strained.

Maddie held Vlad tighter. She wasn’t sure what the future would bring. She didn’t know if this moment would devolve into chaos, if Vlad would forget his regret, if she’d have to spend the rest of her life fending off the Wisconsin ghost – or if she could expect to spend years working in Fenton Works with the addition of an old-new friend. For the moment, none of it mattered. Vlad was safe, her family was safe, and Maddie would face tomorrow with whatever it may bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief disclaimer, all my medical knowledge comes from google and medical TV dramas and the CPR and other medical practices described here should not be interpreted as accurate.


	26. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this chapter contains about 20% of the total word count and could be a separate sequel, but I didn't want to break it up. I put Vlad through hell, he deserved to have his life pieced back together a bit in the same fic.
> 
> Small disclaimer that I have no training in psychology and the views expressed by the psychologist in this fic may or may not encompass proper therapeutic advice. I tried, but this fanfic cannot replace professional help. Realistically Vlad's character development is a bit rushed as well and abusers don't normally change their ways under any circumstances, I just took a creative license here. That said, on with the Epilogue.

**Epilogue – Selected Scenes from After**

_9:30 pm, Thursday, April 19 th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad opened his eyes to a white ceiling. Before he could contemplate how he got there, a voice broke through the fog.

“Good, you’re awake.”

Vlad turned his head, the motion making him nauseous. He was in a bed – the Fenton guest room again, though the sheets were a different color than he remembered. Danny was sitting in the recliner, which was still in the room from Jack and Maddie’s bedside vigil.

“Danny…” Vlad tried. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton.

“Hmm, maybe you did bump your head after all, I can’t remember the last time you called me Danny,” the boy grinned.

Vlad grimaced. It felt like his head was about to explode. He tried to sit up only to find himself sinking down…

“Easy there,” Danny was quick to grab his shirt – when had that been put back on? – and pull him from his slow descent into the mattress.

“What did you do to me to bring me back?” Vlad asked with some alarm. He hadn’t had that little control over his powers since…

“Zapped you with the Fenton Portal,” Danny said sheepishly. “The same thing that gave me my powers. Your heart wasn’t starting up, and I couldn’t think of anything else to do, mom said it would be dangerous if we couldn’t revive you within three minutes.”

“I was already a half ghost and you hit me with enough ectoplasmic radiation to convert me…” Vlad thought slowly. “If the Master hadn’t destroyed my ability to access my ghost half, you likely would have more than killed me but as it was… I’m probably suffering from ectoplasmic toxicity.”

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose. This wouldn’t be fun.

“Ectoplasmic toxicity?” Danny asked.

“Yes… have a bucket?” Vlad didn’t have the patience to explain and if he didn’t get what he asked for…

Thankfully Danny seemed to half expect it and frantically handed Vlad a trash can.

Vlad was quick to expel the contents of his stomach and gagged at the large glob of green ectoplasm that leaked from his lips. Once it had been expelled, he immediately felt better, his headache easing up.

“Haven’t done that in years…”

“You’ve done that before? I’ve never vomited ectoplasm,” Danny said quickly moving the trash bin far away from the both of them. At least it didn’t smell.

“Used to be a daily occurrence. Several times a day, every day, for around six months, and it continued intermittently for years,” Vlad sighed. “At least the Fentons will know what it is… the doctors back then called it ‘an unidentified organic substance’.”

“Sounds miserable.”

“It was. The ecto-acne contained ectoplasm too, and the sores would burst and spread… I had ectoplasm leaking from my eyes too at one point. Those symptoms started manifesting after about the first week. It made getting the shock pads on me a pain, ectoplasm is highly conductive, and they didn’t want to burn me with the defibrillator.”

Vlad talked as if in a dream. His brain was still foggy. He probably wasn’t out of the woods yet. He’d gotten this way only once after the ecto-acne cleared, and that was after he had spent a good 24 hours trying to free himself from the Behemoth’s stomach. Too much ectoplasm had seeped into his system then, too.

“How many times did your heart stop that you needed to be defibrillated?”

Vlad frowned.

“…. I’m not sure. Upwards of 50 times I think… they wanted to do an implant so I could have an internal defibrillator, which was recently pioneered tech at the time, but by the time they got the paperwork approved around three months in, I started randomly phasing out of my IV, and they realized that was less than feasible. Thankfully the heart attacks ceased around the first manifestation of that particular power. It was around that time I was moved to a secure ward and the blasted government was brought in to observe. No visitors, restricted access…”

Vlad stared into space, remembering.

“I had Sam and Tucker when I got my powers, and I kind of got them all at once, no painful transition. They rescued me from the floor more than once. Did you have anyone…?”

“All I got were doctors with notepads trying to see if I could do it on command. I had almost no control over any of it for I can’t even remember how long…. I was at least wise enough to feign an inability to perform on command, and as soon as I could control an ability, I would pretend I no longer had it. I had to work rather hard to convince the medical team that my ghostly abilities were disappearing alongside the ecto-acne. A shame all of their case files mysteriously got destroyed.”

Vlad grinned wistfully. “The paper files burned in a fire. Even the datacenter and backup datacenter got fried, what a bizarre and unfortunate turn of events.”

Danny snorted. “Sounds like you. I imagine you were terrified, with no way of knowing if it would stop, of not knowing what you were becoming.”

“I didn’t even believe in ghosts, that was more Maddie and Jack’s thing. But I’d really like to stop talking about this, I was getting along with them so well, and recalling that nightmare may just ruin it.”

Vlad forced himself to cease talking and stared at Danny through the fog. He was going to say something he’d end up regretting he was sure.

“How did you know killing me would free me?” he asked finally.

“Oh… a book. I guess some humans defeated the Master before, and that was how.”

“Ghost Writer’s library?”

“Yeah. Do you go there often?”

“I used to go all the time when I first discovered it, I purchased quite a few of his books.”

“Really? He seemed the hoarding type.”

“Everyone has their price, little badger.”

They lapsed into companionable silence. Vlad found himself idly tracing the spot on his chest where he remembered the tattoo being. He wanted desperately to look down and reassure himself it was gone, but he didn’t want to show weakness. He couldn’t bring himself to be silent about it though, not when he was finally free of the nightmare.

“Thank you, Danny, for saving me.”

“That’s the second time you’ve called me Danny. You sure you’re ok?”

Vlad nodded. “I think so. Feel like I’m underwater but that’s the ectoplasmic toxicity I’m sure. Give me a day or two and I’ll be fine.”

As Vlad talked he felt a creeping fear that there was something he had planned to do, before the Fentons had taken such drastic measures, something important… it hit him all at once.

“Danny-“ Vlad said suddenly desperate, looking at the teen wide-eyed. “I need a favor, _now_ preferably, I need you to go to the Nasty Burger, there’s a camera-“

“Already did it, Vlad, lay back down before you hurt yourself, please-“

“Already…? How did you know to-“

“School rumor,” Danny said flatly.

“…School rumor?” Vlad started warily. Those teens… his gut sank. “Do you… do you know what… what the Master…” Vlad couldn’t make himself complete the sentence.

“Yes,” Danny said uncomfortably. “Sorry, it was in the book. Jazz knows too.”

Though Danny and Jazz knowing was alarming, it was somehow also a relief. It meant Vlad wouldn’t need to go out of his way to conceal the true nature of the past week from them. He supposed Danny and Jazz knowing was humiliating, but not the end of the world. However… Vlad chewed his lip. “I… does the whole town know? The rumor-“

“Don’t worry, Vlad, everyone thinks it’s bullshit.”

“Language, Daniel, coarse language conveys a level of ineloquence and you’re less likely to be taken seriously.”

Danny snorted. “Is that why you avoid it? Honestly, Vlad, sometimes you need a strong word. And I’m Daniel again now?”

“Nicknames display a level of unprofessionalism and unnecessary familiarity – or so I grew up hearing, old habits die hard,” Vlad sighed. “Your mother took to repeatedly whacking my head with a textbook every time I called her Madelaine until I quit the habit.”

“That sounds like her,” Danny grinned.

“Indeed.”

“Maybe I should give it a shot, except with ghost powers.”

“Don’t get carried away.”

There was silence again.

“So… what now, Vlad?” Danny asked eventually. “Are you going to go back to antagonizing me? Trying to rule the world? Kill my dad, steal my mom, make me your son, same old song and dance?”

“No, I don’t think so, it doesn’t appeal anymore. In fact, the thought of world conquest is rather revolting.”

“I’m sure you’ll recover and change your mind.”

“I hope not. I wasn’t exactly happy before, Danny, what would be the point of clawing desperately to go back to my old useless ideals?”

“Then… what _will_ you do?”

“No idea. Apparently though, I have an open invitation to work at Fenton Works.”

“You can’t be serious,” Danny said, eyes wide. Vlad couldn’t help but chuckle at his clearly horrified gaze.

“It couldn’t hurt, I seem to have moved in,” Vlad said cheekily.

“You can’t stay at our house!”

“Not forever, just for a bit, until I make the amends I’ve promised.”

“And just what are these amends?” Danny said, suspicion in his eyes.

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and find out.”

_\---_

_12:38 pm, Sunday, April 22 th, Gelding Psychology office_

_~Sharon Gelding – specialty: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy~_

Sharon was used to unusual cases, but Vlad Masters had to be one of her more interesting patients. He had introduced himself with a handshake, said he wanted to preface the meeting by saying he thought talking about his feelings was a waste of time, but that he’d been wrong about a lot of things lately. He then promptly said he didn’t trust her or ‘her ilk’.

She knew instinctually he wasn’t talking about what was really bothering him – how could he when he didn’t trust her? – but that didn’t mean he was being ingenuine. Even if he wasn’t talking about his main concern, she had no doubt he was discussing his problems.

“I’m trying to make amends,” he was saying. “They’ve got a lot to forgive me for. I need them in my life, I know that, but I’ve never tried to make friends, only alliances for personal gain.”

“You said they were your friends before? Why not just be yourself? Simply socializing with people is often a good start-“

“You don’t understand,” he smiled self-depreciatingly. “’Myself’ is quite a loathsome, selfish individual. I’ve hurt them badly.”

He’d already said as much, but he wouldn’t say how. She knew pressing him would do little, and she had to build his trust.

“Apologizing and proving you’ve changed is good, but I’m concerned by the fact that you’re still actively ‘making amends’, as you put it. What are you doing, exactly?”

“They made requests of me, conditions for forgiveness, and I’m fulfilling them,” he said.

Sharon frowned. She didn’t know Vlad’s friends, but baiting forgiveness on a condition was rarely advisable. It was something abusive partners did to their victims.

“Vlad, I understand you wish to be forgiven, but sometimes it’s best to cut ties, start over-“

“They’re all I have,” he snarled and Sharon’s heart skipped a beat. She could have sworn his eyes flashed red for a moment.

“They have the right to ask it of me,” he said softer, slowly relaxing from his tense position. “I won’t go into specifics, but let’s just say I’ve committed crimes against them, and against others. Crimes for which, if I was caught and sentenced, I’d be looking at life in prison. Worse. Doctor patient confidentiality, right? Let’s say I’m guilty of… kidnapping one of them. Assault on another. Repeated attempted murder. Not to mention my crimes against other people. Theft. Embezzlement. Wrongful imprisonment. Coercion and other unsavory means of manipulation.”

He said it all with a grin, a manic look in his eyes. Sharon felt herself begin to sweat. She wasn’t sure how serious he was, but her instincts said he was being deadly serious. An abuser trying to change his ways perhaps? Still… she had a job to do.

“Alright, Vlad, for hypothetical purposes let’s say you’ve done things which by conventional wisdom are unforgivable. You cannot guarantee anyone’s forgiveness. They either will forgive you, or they won’t.”

“Humans are not machines,” he said smiling insincerely. “Logically I know this, but it’s something I don’t seem to have managed to learn in my 45 years of living.”

“You’re very right, it’s a good analogy. Humans are not machines. I’m concerned if you’re constantly trying to make amends, you will grow to resent your friends for not reciprocating on the agreed upon forgiveness, and with resentment, there cannot be friendship. I need you to dig deep, and ask yourself – are you making amends for you? Because you want to, because it’s the right thing to do? Or are you doing it for them?”

He looked confused at that. “Is there a difference?”

“There’s a huge difference,” Sharon assured him. “Let’s use an easy example. Let’s say you witnessed a homeless man starving on the street. Every day you passed him without doing anything. Then one day, he got sick. He’s hospitalized. He recognizes you as you pass him in the hospital, screams that it’s your fault he’s there. You feel guilty and decide to give him $100,000 to put toward a house.”

Vlad nodded to show he was listening. Sharon had to pick a highish number – he was a billionaire after all.

“If you gave him that money because he demanded it, you might watch how he used it. You’d get upset when he squandered it. You’d end up regretting giving it to him in the first place. You may even begin to resent his misappropriation of your good will – you went out of your way for him, and he threw it in your face. You end up hating him, and you end up hating yourself for believing in him. You now think helping other people is wrong. Now in another scenario, you realize you owe the homeless man nothing. But you see how much he’s suffering and give him money because you want to, because it’s the right thing to do. When he squanders it, you feel sad, disappointed, but it doesn’t matter. You didn’t do it for him. You know you did the right thing, and that’s all that matters, and you move on.”

“Do you see the difference?” She prompted.

“You’re saying… if I do as Jack and Maddie say, because they say it, I may end up feeling like they owe me something, but if I try to change for myself and hope for the best… I’ll be happier?”

“Yes,” Sharon nodded. “You cannot change for other people. You have to want the change. You can’t make amends because it will make others happy. You have to do it, if you do so at all, because it will make you happy.”

“What if making them happy, makes me happy?”

“You cannot guarantee your actions will make them happy. Humans are not machines, remember? Relying on other people’s happiness to inspire your own is impermanent at best and creates a dangerous codependence at worst. I suggest you look within yourself and see what it is you want to do.”

He looked perplexed. Sharon was silent. She had to give him time to think.

“I want… the only thing I’ve ever wanted consistently was power. Everything I did was done with a purpose. I never so much as spoke to anyone without thinking of what I could gain from it. College was different – I decided to try my hand at friendships, see what it was all about. I was terrible at it. I only knew how to make alliances – to do favors to get favors in return, to flatter, to build up, to receive the same. I tried to control every aspect of the relationship. Jack… taught me to let go, to do things because it was fun, not because I expected to get something out of it. It was difficult to stop calculating my every action, but I managed, at least mostly. In those few years, I was truly happy – until my ego got in the way and convinced me I was in love and that love’s reciprocation was guaranteed.”

He smiled bitterly.

“Now I just want… that friendship back. For the past twenty years I went back to my old habits. It’s hard to remember how to let go, but I think… I think Jack’s suggested amends are likely the correct route to take. I crave power, but I handle it… very poorly. It has not made me happy. If I divest it, reduce it…”

He fell silent. Sharon waited a few minutes but it seemed he would not speak further.

“If you feel it is the right path for you, you may take it. If you want to make amends for yourself, I will not stop you, but I strongly suggest you take time to reflect on what you want – and take up a personal hobby.”

“… pardon?”

“You heard me,” she smiled warmly. “You cannot throw all of your time and effort into other people, and ‘making amends’ runs the risk of spiking feelings of self-loathing. Self-appreciation is good too – not narcissism, take care, but just making time for yourself. Do you have anything you like to do that is relaxing and fun?”

“That doesn’t involve hostile business takeovers and watching my enemies cry at their misfortune?”

He only seemed to be half joking.

“It’s been a while since I appreciated the simple things. I used to knit.”

Sharon hid her surprise perfectly. Years of experience made her able to keep her facial expression neutral. She did not expect that of him though.

“Maybe you should take it up again.”

“I think I will. It will afford me some time to think on what you said as well. I want to find happiness. I’m reasonably confident that I’m correct in concluding I need friends to achieve it, as illogical as that seems to me. If my relationship with the Fentons cannot be salvaged, I will consider other avenues, but for now… I’ll do what I can to make myself into a better person, the kind of person who’s open to having friendships in the first place. It will take me some time to stop subconsciously seeing my chosen path as a weak one.”

He stood suddenly. It was exactly the end time for his session. There was no clock in his view. Sharon wasn’t sure how he’d managed that.

“Until next time, doctor,” he said, shaking her hand.

“I’ll help you along that journey,” she said as he let go.

“Of course you will. It’s what I pay you for.”

“It’s also because it’s the right thing to do.”

“You’re saying you’re helping me because you want to, not because I demand you to or pay you to do so?” he threw her analogy back at her.

“I certainly enjoy my salary, but I would have quit this job long ago if I didn’t find it fulfilling.”

He smiled, and for the first time it reached his eyes. A genuine smile. It was a good look on him.

“I think I like you, doctor,” he said, turning smartly on his heel, and leaving through the door. Sharon had the strangest feeling that he’d judged her and she had passed some kind of unspoken test.

 

_4:15 pm, Monday, April 23 th, Nasty Burger_

_~Danny~_

Danny dug eagerly into his food like a man starved.

“Dude, chill, it’s not going anywhere!” Tucker said, alarmed.

“Tucker, you don’t understand, this is the first normal food I’ve had since Thursday,” Danny griped. “Vlad’s been feeling better and he’s taken to cooking all this- this- rich people food, and it’s healthy, and fancy, and I need this burger!”

“Speaking of Vlad,” Sam said, “what’s up with him? Did you know he came over offering to give me monetary compensation for, and I quote, ‘recklessly exposing me to a potentially deadly virus’?”

“Did the same thing to me,” Tucker was baffled. “I said I didn’t want any money if it came from _him_ , but mom and dad had other ideas.”

“Same, I figured there was some catch, and I don’t exactly need money. He wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Sam grumbled.

“Wait, he did what?”

“I know, right?” Tucker quipped. “I apparently have 100,000 dollars in a trust fund for college now.”

“Same,” Sam nodded.

“Ok, I know Vlad said he’d make amends, but that’s crazy. And where’s my trust fund?!”

Sam chuckled. “Better ask him quick, before he suddenly remembers he’s a villain.”

_11:23 am, Tuesday, April 24 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

“Jack, tell me you didn’t just say that,” Vlad Masters said coldly. The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Even Maddie was gob smacked at her husband’s insensitivity.

“Jack… you can’t just-”

“No, Maddie don’t you dare intervene,” Vlad snarled, a vein pulsing in his forehead as he stalked forward toward the orange-jumpsuited man.

“Say that again… slowly. Even a buffoon such as yourself should realize where you’ve erred.”

Jack looked confused and Maddie realized immediately he didn’t get it, didn’t grasp it, didn’t understand.

“I think it’d be a good idea,” he said, looking at Vlad like he’d gone mental. “If we’re all half ghost, we can study them so much better, we’ve got the settings right here-“

“You think it’s that simple?” Vlad asked darkly and Maddie felt a chill creep up her spine. Killing intent. Vlad’s eyes were flashing red.

“Jack,” Maddie said quickly. “That accident could have killed Danny. It should have killed Danny! There is absolutely no guarantee that if you walk in there that you’ll survive.”

“Of course I’ll survive, it’s got a 100% success rate so far, and even if it won’t work for everyone, Danny has our blood so I’m sure-“

Vlad grabbed Jack’s jumpsuit in a death grip easily hefting him off the ground in one fist, a superhuman feat, and he did it while looking mostly human even if his entire eyeball blazed with a red glow.

“ _Jackie_ , I don’t think you understand,” he said coldly. “You don’t seem to fully comprehend the significant risks that come with morphing into a half ghost. You think it’s fun? Imagine, if you will, slowly falling into the earth with no way back up, blinded, unsure if you’ll suddenly solidify and suffocate underground. Imagine for a moment reading your morning paper when it suddenly bursts into flames, because you just shot lasers from your eyes. Imagine waking up only to find yourself floating so far above the earth that you can’t even see it for the clouds, and in your moment of terror, you begin to fall, and you don’t know how to make it stop, and the ground is approaching rapidly, and you just barely manage to slow down before crashing, but you shatter your ribcage, only for it to start healing rapidly – and incorrectly. Now imagine you look in the mirror and see something supernatural and corrupted staring back.”

Maddie stared. Were these just examples or…

“I experienced… all of those things. And you just want to flippantly… _see what happens_?”

Jack had gone pale, his impulsive enthusiasm waning. “Vladdie… I didn’t mean-“

“Don’t call me that,” he hissed. “I’ve got one last scenario for you, _friend_. Imagine you reached out and grabbed the shirt of someone you were feeling particularly vindictive toward at the time, and you knew you could put a hole straight through their chest just by willing it to happen. Just by thinking hard enough. Just by allowing your hatred to take on physical form – that is what ectoplasmic blasts are after all, raw desire in physical form. And then imagine yourself forcibly restraining that all too easy urge because you remember, just in the nick of time, that the human whose life is in your hands is important to you, and you would regret ending it.”

Vlad set Jack down. “Do. Not. Trivialize. What it means. To be half ghost. Again. And if you can’t do it for me, you had better do it for your son. I told Danny once that only I could understand him, only I could relate to him, and as such I would be a better father. Don’t you _dare_ … prove me right.”

He crouched low, black rings sprouting from his chest and suddenly it was an inhuman vampiric ghost glaring at Jack – before he kicked off and shot through the ceiling.

Maddie shielded her face as metal debris went flying. When she opened her eyes there was a sizable crater in the floor where Vlad’s feet had been, but the ceiling was untouched.

Jack was looking at her wide-eyed.

“I… screwed up, didn’t I?” he said slowly. “I really didn’t mean… I wasn’t thinking…”

“I know,” Maddie said, reaching out to hug him. Jack had been wrong, but this incident proved how much they were relying on Vlad’s self-control. Despite his own confessions, he must have been holding back throughout the years. Was it worth it, to work with him and hope for the best?

“Can we trust Vlad?” Maddie asked finally.

“Trust him how?” Jack asked.

“To not hurt us, to not…” Maddie trailed off.

“Maddie, you might as well ask if we can trust Danny, he’s as strong as Vladdie is. What happens if Danny gets mad and does that ‘hatred take on physical form’ thing?”

Maddie was shocked.

“Jack, that’s completely different, Danny would never hurt us-“

“Never on purpose, but in a fit of temper?” Jack asked. She pulled back to look at him and saw at once he was playing devil’s advocate. His expression gave it away. She was curious where he was going so she decided to play along.

“Danny kept his powers secret for a year, he can control them.”

“So can Vlad, he kept them secret ever since he got out of the hospital, so around 13 years.”

“Yes,” Maddie was frustrated. “But the difference is, Vlad actually wants to kill you.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“We can’t trust him.”

“I trust him.”

“You shouldn’t.”

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “I dunno Maddie, he’s still the same V-man. I think we owe him our trust after he was so honest.”

“We owe that man nothing,” she snarled.

“Are you sure?”

Maddie glared at her husband. He relented. “Alright, Maddie, you’re mad, and you have a right to be, I get mad when I remember what the Wisconsin Ghost did too. But Vladdie’s here now, trying his best. You can at least try not to be openly hostile.”

“I’m not openly hostile!”

“You dumped tea on his head this morning, sweet cheeks.”

She blushed.

“He… he said I made perfect eggs, I thought he was hitting on me again-“

“Maddie, that’s normal conversation. Unless you thought he was flirting with me when he said the Fenton Ghost Catcher was a brilliant invention?”

“He said _surprisingly_ brilliant, it was a backhanded compliment-“

“And there’s nothing wrong or flirty about complimenting eggs, Maddie. If he makes you uncomfortable, you can use words you know.”

Maddie let out a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I’m always right.”

Maddie slapped his shoulder lightly. “Don’t push it.”

 

_12:05 pm, Sunday, April 29 th, Gelding Psychology office_

_~Sharon Gelding~_

“How are your ‘amends’ going?” Sharon asked Vlad. She sensed he was in a different mood this time. He was far more tense.

“Fine,” he said flatly. “I’ve done everything on the list except stabilize Danielle and sell Vladco. Granted it’s already being run by my underlings quite well.”

“You’re upset.”

“Jack is an idiot, but that’s nothing new. I actually shouted at him instead of bottling up my feelings – but I overdid it and put a hole in their floor.”

Sharon nodded, deciding not to ask how exactly. Something told her this man could be quite dangerous if he wanted to be.

“It’s good to communicate, however explosive fits of temper rather defeat the purpose.”

“I know,” he sighed. “And it is better – I feel frustration, not hatred. It’s also strange to look upon Maddie and not feel an all-consuming desire to make her mine. I just feel sad. Or guilty. I know logically this change is for the better, but I feel… depressed by it. Not myself.”

“What caused this sudden shift in perspective, if you don’t mind my asking? These things don’t usually happen overnight.”

His false smile was back.

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

“Of course I do, this is Amity Park.”

He went silent. Fidgeted. The tension built. Finally, Sharon realized she may have to give him an out, he wasn’t ready.

“You don’t have to tell me until you’re willing-“

“No, it’s the whole damn reason I’m here. Sorry. Didn’t mean to swear.”

He was silent again. This time she waited.

“I was possessed for a period of just under a week by a ghost. One intent on repeatedly sexually assaulting me and making gross analogies for how I was exactly like him in the way I forced my desires on other people. Perhaps in that respect, he was right. The Fentons managed to save me, but they had to stop my heart to accomplish it.”

Vlad looked up. “What I really need help with – I can’t sleep. Every time I’m alone in a room, I expect him to appear. I wake up hyperventilating. I’m living with my friends not for convenience because I work with them, but because the thought of being alone in a house fills me with terrible dread. I occasionally find myself spacing out, forgetting where I am, or who I’m with. I’ll hear myself talking and realize I have no idea what I’ve been saying for the past few hours. When I look in the mirror I keep thinking I see the bruises he left even though they’re long healed.”

He looked at her, his mouth set in a thin, determined line. “When I see my reflection in the mirror I feel nothing but self-contempt. At first, I thought it was because of the terrible things I’ve done to my friends, that I could accept, but I hate myself because of what he turned me into – a dirty, disgusting, toy for his own personal use. I couldn’t stop him, and I even played along with him. I had quite a few opportunities to seek rescue that I didn’t take. Looking back, I can’t remember why, though I swear I felt like I had a good reason at the time.”

“Can you help me with that, Dr. Gelding?” His tone was challenging, but his eyes were desperate. Sharon was alarmed at the concept of a rapist ghost, but that wasn’t important at the moment. Sharon knew he wasn’t a man who wanted any words of sympathy – he wouldn’t accept them. Instead, she said what she knew would help most.

“What you’re feeling is normal for someone who experienced something like that, though I imagine the possession portion pushes the rape aspect to new extremes.”

She noted how he flinched and ducked his head with flushed cheeks at the word rape.

“You may be feeling like recovery is impossible – and to some extent that’s accurate. The memories are always going to be a part of you. But it is certainly possible reduce their impact. You’re taking the first step toward healing by confronting how you feel. I’ll be here to help you work through it.”

“I… the most important thing to me right now is getting to sleep. I can’t control my temper if I don’t have enough sleep, and I could end up hurting someone.”

“Would you be willing to give meditation a try?”

“I’ll try anything.”

_4:10 pm, Tuesday, May 1st, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad felt quite the fool holding onto outdated malfunctioning equipment with Danny, Sam and Tucker, trying out one of the Fenton’s crazy ideas. It was a nice distraction from his so far rather unsuccessful search to find a new CEO for Vladco. It didn’t help that his heart wasn’t really in it – The Fentons weren’t exactly paying him much, and even if he’d started out with ill-gotten gains, Vladco was founded entirely by him. No tricks, except for a few mergers. Maybe Jack could be convinced he could reform and still keep that one thing…

He should have known it wouldn’t last. The Guys in White.

Vlad felt an involuntary fear response the moment he saw them. He remembered them destroying his mansion of course but he always remembered that day in the hospital first…

“Wow, that’s a lot of zeros!” Maddie was exclaiming looking at the giant check.

“Now see here, Jack, Maddie, I know first hand money doesn’t buy happiness, what about all your years of research-“

“We’re rich V-man, we can pay people to worry about stuff like that!”

Vlad found himself catching Danny’s eye. This would not end well.

***

_7:15 pm, Tuesday, May 1st, Mayor’s Mansion_

Vlad stood in the lab he had built at the Mayor’s mansion, in his Plasmius form. Trembling. Vlad Plasmius did not _tremble_.

Anxiety was crashing over him in waves. He was alone. Where he had first been assaulted. He’d been fine for an hour but the longer he stayed the more his anxiety grew. He had shifted to Plasmius to feel more powerful – but even with a wellspring of energy at his fingertips, he trembled.

This wouldn’t do. He had built the lab, it had taken him ages, even with help. The Fentons had gotten rid of theirs… but Vlad had a feeling it wouldn’t last long. They’d crawl home. Their home. This mansion was no longer Vlad’s home – and he was having a hard time conceptualizing living away from the Fentons, even if that distance was as short as next door.

When had he become so… so weak, so codependent? Well… he knew exactly when, he just didn’t like it. Given that he’d be staying in the mansion again, even for a short while, some changes were in order…

Vlad found the scepter he kept just for these occasions and summoned the Vulture trio.

“Hello there, what gives?” asked the elder.

“We’re filling this space back in,” Vlad said. “I no longer wish to stay in this place. We’re downsizing. Dismantle the portal and destroy it all. Bury it.”

“Wha- but we just built it!”

Vlad flashed his eyes. The birds shrunk.

“Well, I suppose you’re not a bad master, but maybe you could summon us to do something fun on occasion? It wouldn’t kill you,” a vulture grumbled. Vlad flinched at the word.

“Don’t call me that,” he asked.

“What, master?”

“Yes, that. Stop it. Call me Plasmius if you must call me something.”

The birds gave him an assessing look. “Yes, Mr. Plasmius, sir,” one cawed.

Vlad sighed, floating through several floors. He had work to do. There were quite a few items he remembered promising to burn…

_6:45 pm, Thursday, May 3rd, Mayor’s Mansion_

_~Danny~_

Danny was horrified. The Guys in White had turned the Fenton home into an impenetrable fortress, and when he’d gone to use Vlad’s portal… the whole lab had been filled in with dirt, and a floor, and it was like it never existed!

“Vlad! Where are you!” Danny shouted, speeding through all the rooms. As he went, he noticed changes. The first time he had visited the mansion, Vlad had decorated the place with busts with his likeness, portraits of himself in gallant poses – they all seemed to be smashed, burned, or otherwise destroyed, and the study had been completely remodeled.

“Danny, would you quit shouting? I’m trying to read.”

Danny blinked. Vlad was sitting directly behind him in an armchair in the spacious library – well, the library he showed off to the public anyway, Danny knew there were no ghost books here. His fat white cat was sitting comfortably in his lap.

“Vlad, this isn’t the time, the Guys in White are going to fire a missile into the ghost zone, destroying it! I need a ghost portal!”

Vlad looked over the top of his book at that. Danny blinked at the title. _Meditation Methods for Novices_.

“I’m afraid mine’s been destroyed. Have you tried going through the front door?”

“That place is locked down tighter than Fort Knox! Their guns are actually dangerous, I’m pretty sure I’d be in some serious danger of dying if they hit me!”

“I really wish you’d taken the time to learn how to create clones, it’s perfect for this sort of thing.”

“I can make three… for five minutes, less if they get hit. I hate to say this, but – I need your help. If they succeed in destroying the ghost zone-”

“The earth will be destroyed along with it, I know. Very well. I will help.”

***

“Watch and learn, Danny,” Vlad said from their hiding place on the rooftops. He transformed into Plasmius, and three clones sprang forth immediately.

“I expected an army.”

“The more clones you create, the further divided your power. Three should suffice.”

“Don’t kill anyone.”

Vlad scoffed. “Have you ever seen me kill anyone, Danny? I made an exception for your father. Murder is far too messy.”

Danny watched. The Vlad clones went in blasting – and it really was clever. They aimed for the guns, taunting and grabbing at the Guys in White, deliberately missing but taking large chunks out of Fenton Works where they had stood.

Danny watched a clone vanish with a pop as a gun blast connected – Vlad quickly spawned another.

A Guy in White screamed girlishly as he was pulled by his ankle into the sky – and dropped.

“Plasmius!” Danny hissed frantically.

But he needn’t have worried. The clone Vlad caught the agent right before he hit the ground and scared off the trembling man with a single “Boo!”

It was brutal, but effective. Outside security was running down the street, screaming into their radios.

“Remind me never to invite you to hero work,” Danny said. “You completely lack witty banter.”

“The very idea is revolting,” Vlad half laughed. “Me, run around playing hero to the dimwitted masses? Pass.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

“Daniel, we’re running out of time.”

Danny noted the use of his full name again but chose not to comment. The clones dispersed, and Danny and Vlad phased into Fenton Works together.

Danny felt his gut clench at seeing Sam and Tucker chained up to a pipe. The Guys in White seemed to be talking into their radios trying to figure out the status outside. Worse than that though – the portal was open, and the missile seemed to be charging for launch. There was no time.

Danny quickly surged forward, invisible, and pressed the door close button. For a heart stopping moment he thought the portal wouldn’t respond quick enough – but it snapped shut with a bang the instant the missile launched. Purple goop exploded from the point of contact and went straight through Danny with no ill effects. Huh. Maybe the missile would have been a dud after all and he needn’t have worried. It was no anti-ectoplasm.

“This place is cursed!” A Guy in White shrieked, and they surged for the door- all except one, who stopped inexplicably in his retreat. The other agents didn’t notice he was being left behind. Danny could just make out the outline of Vlad in his invisible state.

“Plasmius, let him go, they’re running away!” he shouted.

Vlad materialized and tossed the agent back into the room, eyes blazing.

“…Vlad?” Danny wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the elder man so furious. The agent’s sunglasses fell off, revealing a missing eye to accompany the long, deep scar on his face.

“Get away from me, ecto freak!” The elder agent roared, reaching for his gun. It was blasted from his grasp. He dove for it – and two Vlads were suddenly under his arms, holding him up for inspection as the original floated forward.

“I thought I recognized you,” Vlad hissed. “The missing eye is new.”

“Really? Because I don’t recognize you!” The agent spat.

“How did you develop these weapons?”

“I’ll never tell-“

The agent screamed as he was zapped with pink energy.

“Vlad, cut it out, you’re hurting him!” Danny shouted, charging green.

“That was the idea. Let me guess – biological samples from patient Zero?”

The agent looked confused.

“How did you know about…”

The clones shook him.

“I thought you were fired for trying to terminate him,” Vlad said and there was something eerie in his calm tone from his fury moments earlier. “What, does attempted murder just warrant a slap on the wrists now-a-days?”

_You’re one to talk,_ Danny thought darkly.

“I stand by my decision,” The elder agent snapped. “That man was turning into something inhuman. You couldn’t even see his face under all those ectoplasmic boils! He was an abomination and should have been snuffed out.”

Danny felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Suddenly he realized with horrible clarity who ‘patient Zero’ was.

Vlad grinned wider, the manic smirk Danny was familiar with. “I am a vengeful spirit by nature. You attempted to destroy the whole ghost zone – that in itself is offensive. But I believe you’ll find most ghosts have even less respect from humans who would harm one of their own. If I had my way, I would throw you into the ghost zone and leave you to rot.”

The clones vanished, and the agent hit the floor.

“It is taking every ounce of my self-control not to do exactly that. Why should I show you mercy when you showed patient Zero none? However, your appearance has become… unique, without that eye…” Vlad grinned manically. “I believe I’ll just describe you to the residents of the ghost zone… and let fate take its course.”

“You wouldn’t…” the elder mustachioed agent said.

“Oh? I thought I was a filthy abomination? Why are you trying to destroy ghosts if you think them capable of mercy?”

Danny was out of his depth. He had no idea what was going on. But the agent seemed to be getting paler. Vlad saw his fear and suddenly seemed to relent, plasma fading from his fists.

“I’m going to try out this ‘mercy’ thing of which you think I am incapable, but don’t for a second think I’m doing it for your sake. I know exactly where your headquarters are located and if I see you in them? You’ll wish humans were incapable of feeling pain. Run. Before I change my mind.”

The agent fled. Vlad took a deep breath and phased Sam and Tucker out of their cuffs.

“Vlad?” Danny asked. He was silent. Danny gulped nervously. “What did that agent do-“

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Jack and Maddie walked into the lab in expensive clothes only to see the whole place trashed.

“What on earth?!” Maddie exclaimed.

“Guess we have to clean it…” Jack said despondently.

Danny groaned. “It’s good to be home I suppose,” he grumbled.

“V-man, would you mind helping out? Oh, and you can have your room back, we missed you.”

Danny expected Vlad to reject the offer. But instead-

“I’d like that.”

Danny would never understand him.

 

_2:00 pm, Monday, May 7th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad was having a hard time looking at himself in the full-length mirror. He hadn’t been able to spare his reflection more than a passing glance since the _incident_ had occurred. He only really looked when he absolutely had to – he had an appearance to keep after all, even if his heart wasn’t really in it. This time he had no choice though – Maddie expected it of him.

“I don’t understand why you use spandex as a base for your jumpsuits,” Vlad complained, eyes darting to his reflection in brief bursts, struggling to look at himself for longer than a few seconds at a time.

“What’s the matter?” Maddie teased lightly. “Don’t like the green and gold?”

“The colors are wonderful, it’s just… skin tight, Maddie? Is this necessary?” he griped, feeling the blush seep into his face. He was thin, and his shoulders broad, but he never really worked out, though Dr. Gelding had suggested it may be therapeutic. He didn’t need to with his ghost half lending him strength. This outfit showed off his body in far more detail than he was comfortable with.

“It allows for ease of movement. You’ll get used to it, and soon you won’t want to wear anything else.”

Vlad doubted that. Jack and Maddie may sleep in them, but he certainly would not.

“It’s not necessary though, my ghost half protects me from the radiation-“

“It is completely necessary. It’s a work uniform.”

“…It’s a what?”

She squeezed his shoulder, and Vlad saw her reflected behind him. He felt a pleasant warmth at the contact. There was a time such a gesture would have triggered a baser desire, but those seemed to have faded entirely. Vlad sometimes felt empty when he realized that the feeling had vanished – it had been his driving force for years. But then he’d remember the way her very presence now offered comfort instead of sexual frustration and he’d feel relieved that it could have been worse. It wasn’t a bad change, just an unusual one.

“A work uniform,” Maddie repeated. “Jack and I have been talking – we make weapons, but we’re barely profitable. We want to make you partner at Fenton Works. And Fenton Works has a dress code.”

“Partner?” Vlad asked, hardly daring to believe.

“Yes, salaried and everything. You’ll share our profits, help us decide our research direction, market us to the town – partners.”

Vlad grinned and finally managed to look at his reflection properly.

“I guess I could get used to the uniform.”

 

_1:27 am, Wednesday, May 16th, Fenton Works_

_~Danny~_

Danny triumphantly watched his sister awaken with a scream, helmet shattering.

“Did I just dream that I was a professor at Yale? And married to Dash?!”

“Yep, Dash has really come in handy today. He’s like the poster boy for nightmares.”

Danny quickly brought Jazz up to speed on Nocturne. When he finished, she frowned.

“Danny, shouldn’t we wake mom and dad? Or Vlad? It sounds like we can use all the help we can get.”

“I don’t want to involve mom and dad in this, they worry enough about me as it is!”

“And Vlad?” Jazz prompted.

Danny sighed. “You know I don’t trust him Jazz, he’s like, a moment away from snapping.”

“He is trying. He’s going to therapy every week.”

“I’m surprised his therapist hasn’t had a breakdown,” Danny muttered.

“It couldn’t hurt,” Tucker said. “He’s doing something right, did you catch what Valerie was saying about him?”

“I just…” Danny frowned. “I don’t want to put up with Plasmius’s ideal good dream. I had to watch him make out with mom once. That was plenty.”

“You what?!” Jazz asked, clearly alarmed.

“Alternate timeline Jazz, sorry for scaring you.”

Sam folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t it you who said we needed all the help we can get?”

“Fine,” Danny groaned. “Let me get him.”

It only took 10 steps to exit his sister’s room and enter Vlad’s. Danny would never get used to that. He had expected the fruitloop to be driven mad by his parents’ antics ages ago, not join them – and that jumpsuit was mentally scarring.

Danny shuddered, looking at the sleeping man. He was in his usual business suit, which he changed into every day after ‘work’. It was baffling. Danny would be glad to see the last of him – he just hoped it could be done without a resurgence of Vlad’s earlier schemes.

Taking a deep breath, Danny phased into the billionaire.

He opened his eyes….

“… I’m home?”

Danny was invisible in his parents’ lab. Vlad was wearing that ridiculous green and gold jumpsuit.

“Try it now, Vladdie,” a dream version of Jack Fenton said. He looked exactly like the real one.

Vlad turned his hand intangible and reached toward the cloth Jack held up. He brushed against it – and his hand went through.

“Hmm, that didn’t work as well as I’d hoped.”

“I told you to use potassium,” Vlad responded. “I’ll fund you. Seriously.”

“No, we don’t want your money Vlad,” a dream Maddie said. Danny was even more stunned that she looked just like his mom – no twisted fetish outfit. Then again, the jumpsuit could be…

“We’ll have to keep trying. The test subjects keep hurting themselves trying to get out of the tanks. If we could get the cloth restraints to work, we could confine them more humanely.”

“If you’re experimenting, I doubt they’ll care about how pain free their restraints are,” Vlad pointed out.

“I was hoping for something more like recruitment,” Maddie said. “You’ve shown me ghosts are a bit more multidimensional than I thought. It would do to not make the whole zone our enemies.”

“You want to capture them, tie them down then… talk to them?” Vlad asked baffled.

“We could use your negotiating skills, V-man!” Jack said, slapping him on the back.

Danny materialized. “Ok, this is just too weird,” he addressed dream Vlad. “This is your greatest dream? This… this?”

“Dream? I’m not sure what you’re talking about. How was school? Good, I expect? I thought we’d work on your cloning capabilities today when you get a moment. We really need to establish you and Phantom as separate entities if you want to live a peaceful life.”

Danny blinked. “I…”

He thought of how to startle Vlad awake, but looking at the ordinary domestic bliss, he couldn’t do it. If this was all he was capable of dreaming of… why ruin it?

“That sounds great, I look forward to it.”

Vlad smiled at him, a genuine smile, and turned back to Jack and Maddie.

Danny shook his head in bafflement. Come to think of it, the cloning thing… it was actually a good idea. Danny phased out of Vlad, leaving him to dream.

“It didn’t work?” Jazz asked disappointed.

“Nah, it’s just… we can handle this one by ourselves, right? Let the man dream.”

_9:30 pm, Friday, May 25th, Fenton Works_

_~Vlad~_

“Better,” Vlad said with a tired smile. “Still, you’re not there yet. If you really intend to spend the summer with your classmates in a remote area, it would be to your benefit to master this.”

“I know, I know. But there shouldn’t be ghosts in the woods.”

“It’s you, Danny. There _will_ be ghosts in the woods.”

“What is that, Vlad? Fate? Karma? I didn’t take you for the superstitious type.”

Vlad rubbed his face tiredly. “Try again.”

Vlad watched Danny as he screwed up his glowing green eyes, forming a clone. This part he always managed. However, though it looked right to Danny-

“Danny, focus. You’re still connected to the clone. This works fine if you want eyes in the back of your head, but when you transform back to Fenton-“

“I know, I know, my ability to maintain the link will all but vanish.”

“Right, and you need to maintain your ghost clone while your original is in human shape. To do that, your clone needs to function as a separate entity from you. You’ve got the first part down just try to… disconnect your thoughts…”

Danny focused. Vlad watched as the faint glowing aura connecting the clones slowly faded. Danny opened his eyes – and the connection was back.

“You need a point of focus,” Vlad suggested, approaching the duplicate. Vlad reached out his hand.

“Dude? What are you doing?”

“Don’t be dense, Daniel, shake my hand.” Vlad couldn’t help reverting back to old naming habits whenever Danny was being particularly frustrating. Danny seemed to realize it too and tended to reign in his teenage banter whenever the old name surfaced. It was considerate of him.

Vlad couldn’t help but chuckle as Danny grabbed his hand hesitantly, as though he feared it might bite him.

“You should know by now I don’t bite.”

“I’m getting used to it,” both Dannys said in unison, the clone finally gripping Vlad’s hand tighter.

“See? That right there. You shouldn’t be able to do that. Now. Original. Feel me shaking your hand?”

“I do, even though you’re not, it’s weird,” Danny said grumpily.

“Right. Now stop that.”

“…come again?”

Vlad made a clone of his own, which promptly tossed a Fenton gun at the original Danny. Danny fumbled it but managed to catch it. Vlad let his clone vanish.

“Focus on that gun instead. The original should only be able to feel the gun. The clone should only notice my hand. Separate your thoughts entirely.”

Easier said than done,” the two Dannys said, but they obediently closed their eyes to focus.

Vlad resigned himself to wait. The boy had to figure it out on his own, Vlad could only offer guidance. Despite Danny’s bouts of wariness, he seemed to trust Vlad enough to close his eyes in his presence.

Vlad smiled slightly. He wasn’t alone. Funny how months ago he had random stabbing moments where his loneliness would assault him, and now he found himself randomly experiencing moments of connectivity. The fact that Danny had come to him, asking for help instead of Vlad seeking the boy out made it even more meaningful.

Vlad watched the faint green aura between the clones vanish. He said nothing, trusting Danny to notice that he’d managed it. The original holding the gun switched back to Fenton in a flash of white light.

Both Dannys slowly opened their eyes and looked at each other. Fenton and Phantom.

The green energy pulsed and tried to reconnect when they made eye contact – and the clone vanished.

“Damn it!” Danny swore.

Vlad chuckled at his obvious frustration. Teenage emotions were so easy to read. “You’ve made great progress,” Vlad consoled. “You can continue that concept on your own until you can maintain both forms separately. I’ll be available whenever you need to practice.”

Danny nodded. “Thanks Vlad, I…”

He trailed off. Danny stared at Vlad intently, leaning forward. Vlad took a self-conscious step backward.

“…What is it?”

“Dude, have you…. Looked in a mirror lately? As Plasmius I mean.”

_I avoid it if at all possible in any form_ , Vlad thought dryly. But instead he said, “No. Why?”

“I’ve been thinking this whole time… I don’t think you have fangs. And just a second ago, while I watched, your eyes changed.”

Vlad blinked. What?

He phased upward through the floor coming to rest just outside the bathroom. Danny phased into place behind him. Vlad knocked – best never to phase into a bathroom. Silence.

He ripped open the door heart pounding, needing to see what Danny saw, he had to know…

Vlad looked at his reflection and couldn’t help the surprised gasp he uttered. His eyes…

Vlad reached out toward the mirror and placed a ghostly black-gloved hand on the glass. His eyes were red, but… they had normal black pupils and red irises. His whole eyeball was no longer ablaze with the red light. Vlad bared his teeth. His fangs… they were gone.

Vlad was dumbstruck. He’d been staring at the same ghostly image for around sixteen years and suddenly, for the first time, it was changed.

“Didn’t you say something about our ghost forms conforming to our thoughts, emotions and personalities?” Danny said hesitantly. “Looks like you feel like less of an evil bloodsucker, congrats.”

Vlad let out a breath in what may have been a laugh. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the mirror.

“I’ll just… leave you be.” Danny said quietly. “G’night Vlad. And thank you.”

Vlad wasn’t sure how long he stared at his reflection before he finally pulled himself away to sleep.

 

_1:25 pm, Saturday, June 9th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie thumbed through the paperwork she had been presented once more. Jack hadn’t been able to pay attention, so she had dismissed him. It was summer, but the house was quiet. Danny was at summer camp, and Jazz was touring prospective universities. It was just her, Vlad, and a well-thought-out business plan.

“I can see you put a lot of thought into this,” Maddie said finally.

“You don’t seem happy though. I suppose you find it too ambitious?”

“Yes,” she said, relieved he understood. She looked to where he was sitting somewhat tense at the kitchen table. The green and gold looked good on him, and he was beginning to fill it out more in all the right ways- he said exercising grounded him.

“I’ll take care of the marketing, and I know how to make us publicly traded. You’ll still have a say in which projects we take on.”

“I know, you outlined it all in explicit detail, it’s just… employees, Vlad? Expanding into new properties? Speeches at prominent scientific conventions?”

“The publicity is important,” Vlad said seriously. “Don’t forget – your son is half ghost. We need to educate the public on what these things we call ghosts truly are – interdimensional beings with their own varied culture, personalities and values.”

“We barely understand it ourselves!”

“I know,” Vlad said a cheeky grin spreading over his face. “That’s why we’ll be hiring employees to help us research.”

“I…” Maddie protested weakly.

“Maddie,” Vlad said, seriousness back. “I know how much tinkering in your lab means to you and Jack, and with this business plan, you’ll still have that, plus piggybacking on the research of our company. I am an ambitious man. Making inventions is fine, but I far prefer the business management aspect of things. I’m holding onto Vladco because it’s fulfilling. If I take a lead in turning Fenton Works into a large corporation, I can be fulfilled and let Vladco go. If you cannot offer me this…”

He trailed off. Maddie understood. Vlad would abandon Fenton Works if she did not at least somewhat indulge in his ambitions. Vlad had already said he would be moving out before the week was out – into an apartment of all things. The only explanation he gave was that he wanted the noise. Ernesto Montez had won mayorship back in the special election, and so his local residence was gone. Maddie knew he was keeping the Wisconsin mansion (he’d inherited it) and the Colorado chalet (his clone research was there), and he’d sold his majority stakes in outside companies, though he couldn’t divest Vladco of its mergers without hurting its employees. She knew equally well that he hadn’t donated more than a million of his wealth anywhere, to make up for the original million he had stolen.

Jacks demands had been rather impulsive though, she supposed. Expecting him to live as a pauper was unrealistic. Asking Vlad to abandon Vladco when he’d already lost so much was likely cruel. But growing Fenton Works into a publicly traded company? She could say no, but then she’d lose Vlad. It surprised her when she realized how much she’d miss him – she and Jack now spent almost every waking moment in his company, working with him, cooking, talking about work and otherwise… him moving out was already hard, but necessary. Losing him as a business partner in addition? Somehow he’d become an indispensable part of the team, Fenton Works had never been more profitable nor functional. He’d grown on her.

“It makes me uncomfortable,” Maddie said finally. “But… with Jazz looking to go to Sanford, we’ll need the money. I’ve had to run Fenton Works from the business perspective ever since we incorporated, and I can tell this is an excellent, and well thought out plan, it’s just too much growth, too fast. Don’t you think we’ll crash and burn?”

Vlad shook his head. “These are calculated risks, Maddie. Besides, I’m more than willing to bail you out if my plan fails spectacularly. This is a ten-year model you know, it’s hardly fast.”

Maddie hesitated. “I don’t really want to go through with this, but I don’t want to lose you, Vlad.”

“Maddie… you can never lose me,” Vlad said baffled. “Not working for Fenton Works doesn’t mean you’ll lose me.”

“You’re moving out.”

“Yes, I’m a grown man and I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll still visit, regardless of your decision, I’ve grown fond of cooking for all of you-“

“We work well with you. We’re far better as a team than when we work apart.”

“Very true. Which is why I wish to go ahead with this plan.”

“If you run the business like this, we’ll see less of you,” Maddie said. There was more weight to those words than she had realized. That was her problem. She had become attached.

Vlad looked somewhat surprised. “Maddie… Have you noticed how I run Vladco? I still have time to work with you and Jack practically full time. It’s true in the initial stages I’ll be incredibly busy and have less time to work with you side by side. But once we’re established, I’ll be back. I still plan on working with you and Jack, no matter what. I’m not going to push you away again like I did back at the hospital. We’re a team. Business partners.”

Maddie smiled at that. “I trust you…. Oh, what the hell. Let’s give it a shot. I suppose you’ll be wanting your name in the company title?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Vlad scoffed. “I can’t put my first name in it without making your last name sound pretentious, and I refuse to put _Masters_ on anything anymore. Besides, I’m pretty sure Jack would have a heart attack. My only condition is as stated.”

“None of our likenesses on any of our products, just the Fenton name,” Maddie said.

“Exactly,” Vlad nodded.

“I was getting a bit tired of Jack’s face on everything,” Maddie said with a small grin.

“As was I. … Is that a yes, by the way? I can’t tell if you’re committing or just testing out the idea.”

“Yes, Vlad, it’s a yes,” Maddie said with a smile. “Look at you, already using your skills to convince a couple of old fogies set in their ways to completely remodel their entire business. And you did it all without ghost powers.”

“I’ll show you just how capable I really am. Your trust is well placed.”

Funnily enough, Maddie was sure it was.

 

_11:15 am, Saturday, June 30th, Amity Park_

_~Dani Phantom~_

Dani ate the apple she had stolen ravenously. She felt like she was only holding herself together through sheer willpower. The apple seemed to help a little – a little less focus was required to prevent her body from collapsing. But it wasn’t enough, she knew that. She needed Danny. Maybe he would know what to do.

Granted, _dad_ would know best. Last she’d seen dear old dad though, all he’d wanted to do was use her to make a better clone. Even if she were willing to go to him, traveling back to Colorado was out of the question. She’d been trying to make it to Amity park for months, the trip back would kill her.

Dani wondered what it was ghosts used to get energy as she finished the apple. She’d been in ghost form for most of her travels and it had prevented the need to eat much of anything. She had more strength as a human, but taking the form meant she needed to eat. It also necessitated stealing, which she loathed.

Funny how she knew stealing was wrong without ever being told. Logically Dani knew she’d only been alive for six months. Which meant she was only six months old, she supposed. Bizarrely she had been born understanding human speech, with ambitions to be an astronaut, a love of Dumpty Humpty, and a basic high school education. Things were strange though. She knew all of Dumpty Humpty’s songs, but had no recollection of listening to them. And while she knew what trigonometry was, she didn’t understand it, and the knowledge of the more complex subjects seemed to be draining from her mind.

Dani wanted answers for who she was and how she came to be but knew she would never get them. Not so long as Vlad Masters was the only one with all the answers. The father who looked upon her as most men looked upon a particularly unusual insect.

Best not to linger.

***

Dani weighed the merits of risking a transformation into ghost form to enter the Fenton abode. She really didn’t want to. The apple had settled in her gut and she finally no longer felt like she was in danger of unraveling. It couldn’t hurt to ring the doorbell … right?

She nervously pressed the button, not entirely sure of what she would say until she said it. She hoped Danny would answer.

She waited. A woman in a blue jumpsuit opened the door.

“Can I help you?” she asked. Dani’s heart sank. His mother, Maddie.

“Hello, ma’am, my name is Dani, I’m a … friend of Danny’s. Is he home?”

“You’re a little young aren’t you, Dani? … Wait.”

Maddie ripped off the hood and goggles covering her face. “You wouldn’t happen to be Dani Phantom, would you?”

Wait, what? Dani’s words got caught in her throat.

“You are, aren’t you?” Maddie said frantically. “Thank goodness, from what Danny said we’d worried you’d have destabilized… come in, please, I’ve got cookies.”

Not sure what else to do, Dani entered the Fenton residence, baffled. Danny had told his parents about her? Did that mean they knew he had ghost powers?

“Thanks, Mrs. Fenton,” Dani said accepting the proffered ginger snap and sitting at the kitchen table.

“You’re very welcome Dani. Danny is out but I’ll call him… goodness this is going to be confusing.”

“You can call me Danielle,” Dani offered. Maddie smiled.

“Thanks, sweetie.”

Maddie left the room, cell phone in hand. Dani swung her feet anxiously, munching on the cookie. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.

Suddenly, Jack Fenton burst into the kitchen, casting his eyes around wildly before landing on Dani. His face immediately split into a big grin.

“Dani! Glad to see you, kiddo, we’ve been worried about ya!”

“…you have?” Dani asked. Weirder and weirder.

“Course we have!” Jack enthused. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere, asking all the ghosts, but no one had heard about ya! Fixing you is the last promise Vlad made that he still needs to keep, and the man dislikes having an unfinished list!”

Dani’s blood ran cold, ectoplasm pooling in her feet. This wasn’t good.

Maddie was back in the room, and Dani looked at her desperately.

“Danielle?” Maddie asked. “What’s wrong, dear?”

“Vlad’s trying to find me?” Dani squeaked.

“Jack,” Maddie scowled.

“Oh… right.” Jack looked sheepish. “Sorry, kiddo, forgot V-man wasn’t exactly friendly last you saw him, huh?”

Dani shook her head.

“Well he’s going to fix that now. Promise.”

Dani wanted desperately to flee, but she knew she didn’t have the energy. When Danny got there, he could rescue her.

As if on cue, Danny Phantom materialized in the kitchen. The Fenton parents didn’t so much as blink as he transformed back into Danny Fenton.

“Dani!” Danny said happily, pulling her into a hug. Dani returned it feeling even more out of her depth.

“Danny?” she asked tentatively. “What’s going on? _Vlad_ ’s been trying to find me?”

“Yeah, he has, but he kept insisting you were probably dead,” Danny said, somewhat sheepish. “I’ve been asking all over the ghost zone about you, but no one’d seen or heard of you.”

“I’ve been in the human world, mostly,” Dani explained. “But Vlad? Really? You trust him to-“

“I understand my trust hasn’t been earned.”

This day was getting worse.

Dani frantically turned and saw the man who had so callously brought her into existence only to treat her birth as something inconsequential. But… she did a double take.

“Da- I mean, Vlad? You look different.”

The ghost that floated before her wasn’t the one she remembered. He was still blue, glowing, pointy eared and caped, but his black hair was no longer drawn into devil’s horns, but instead cascaded down his back freely and somewhat wild, and his eyes weren’t a solid red, but instead were human-like eyes with red irises.

“I feel different,” the man who couldn’t possibly be Vlad answered. No fangs either.

Black rings spawned from the ghost’s waist and a man who clearly was but wasn’t Vlad appeared.

“Uh… is it casual Saturday?” Dani asked, eying his green and gold packer’s jersey and sweat pants, complimented by tennis shoes.

“I was running laps at the track when Maddie called,” he explained. “Not to worry- I have no plans of wearing something this casual on a daily basis. I’m surprised to see you well, Dani.”

Dani nodded, increasingly freaked. He didn’t seem to be lying about where he’d been though – now that she got over the shock of the clothes she could see tell-tale signs that he’d been sweating and his face was mildly flushed. She had entered the twilight zone, she was sure. It was another reference she wasn’t sure how she knew to make. She’d never seen the show, but she remembered several episodes. This was no time for wondering about her origins or Vlad’s new look though.

“I won’t be well for long, I keep half melting,” Dani said frantically, looking desperately to Danny for guidance.

“Vladdie, what if we use the botched Ecto-Dejecto?” Jack asked. “Would that fix her up?”

Vlad frowned. “I have no doubt it would stabilize her, but don’t forget, Danni is half ghost, and an unstable half-ghost at that. There’s a possibility if we used that, her ghost DNA would overpower her human DNA and she’d no longer be able to maintain a human form.”

“Wait, if I get hit by that I’ll be Phantom forever?” Danny asked horrified.

“No, you’d be fine,” Vlad said impatiently. “Dani is incomplete, her DNA is in flux. She’s missing whatever gene allows us to easily transform. Introducing an amplifying agent would likely fix her DNA firmly in place as a ghost, that’s all.”

Dani frowned. She may have only existed for a few months, but she had human desires. She wanted to hang out with friends in a school, and maybe go to space, or play sports. The desires may be merely manufactured, but…

“I want to stay human,” she said. “If I had to pick, I’d pick human over ghost.”

“Can you make her just human?” Maddie asked Vlad.

He frowned.

“I molded her out of ectoplasm, it’s completely impossible to erase the ghost symptoms without fundamentally destroying who she is.”

“Then we need your lab, don’t we?” Maddie asked.

“We do. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have much time. You’re melting, Danielle.”

Dani blinked at Vlad’s words, then shrieked at seeing the puddle under her feet. She quickly shifted to Phantom form, focused, and absorbed it. That… she hadn’t even noticed. It was getting worse.

The Fentons looked horrified.

“Mom, I know you said we shouldn’t take the specter speeder above ground without a flight permit, but…” Danny started.

“You’re right,” Maddie agreed. “I don’t want to risk traveling through the ghost zone with Dani in that condition. Vlad, you said you’d made preparations to fix her with your morph DNA?”

“Yes, though I haven’t taken a sample yet.”

Wait… Vlad’s morph DNA? Not Danny’s?

“Aren’t I Danny’s clone?” Dani asked frantically. “What happens if you add your morph DNA?”

Dani had a sudden image of herself with white hair, tiny eyes, and a sudden insatiable desire for money. Yuck.

“Not add it, analyze it and reformat your structure. It’s the same, whether we use mine or Danny’s. I’ll explain on the way. We really don’t have the time,” Vlad said.

“I’ll take the ecto-dejecto just in case,” Maddie said. “Follow me to the lab, Danielle and Danny. Vlad, you too. Jack, stay and mind the house. We’re leaving. Now.”

***

Dani braced herself uncomfortably against the wall of the specter speeder. The single bench seat was hardly meant for four people. Danny was at least between her and Vlad while Maddie was driving but being in such an enclosed space with the man who so callously disregarded her life was making her skin crawl. Worse-

“Vlad, you stink,” Danny complained.

“My apologies, Daniel, for not showering when told it was a matter of life or death,” he answered dryly.

It would apparently take 45 minutes to get to Colorado. That in itself was frustrating given how long it had taken Dani on foot. Dani felt the questions she’d been asking herself for the whole of her existence clamoring for her attention. She was locked in with her creator, and she was quickly dying. It was impossible not to ask them.

“Vlad? Why are you helping me? Aren’t I just a failed experiment?”

That… had come out harsher than she had intended. They were in a closed space and she was weak. If he got angry, she couldn’t defend herself. Danny was there, sure, but Vlad…

“I’m trying to correct past mistakes,” he answered simply.

Which could be interpreted a multitude of ways. The mistake of letting her go? The mistake of creating her in the first place? The mistake of not melting her down immediately when he saw she was an imperfect clone?

“Why did you reject me? I thought you wanted a half ghost child? A family?”

He winced. Maddie gripped the steering on the specter speeder tighter. Danny shifted uncomfortably against her. This wasn’t the time or the place but for all Dani knew she might not be around for much longer, as alarming as that concept was. She had to know these things, before… before.

“I told myself I wanted that too,” he answered eventually. “But what I sought was something that I could not create. I believed Daniel had wronged me by rejecting my offer to rule alongside me, and I knew I didn’t have enough time to convince him to do so. I decided to put my education to use and – recreate Daniel so I would have time to convince him properly and validate myself.”

Dani blinked. “That… sounds convoluted and complicated.”

“Perhaps if I was more honest with myself from the beginning, I never would have gone down this path. But then you would have never existed, my dear.”

“Don’t call me that, _dad_.”

He had the good grace to look embarrassed.

“Once I’m stabilized… what happens then?”

“It’s up to you. It was irresponsible of me to create a sentient being without taking the moral ramifications into account. I admit I still find myself thinking of you as a creation rather than a person. Perhaps it helps me justify what happened to the others. I went through… dozens of unsuccessful copies. You are the only one who developed a personality though.”

“… how do I know Dumpty Humpty’s songs by heart if I’ve never heard them?”

“Ah…” Vlad said, looking more at ease. “Ectoplasm is the building block of ghost life. Ghosts don’t typically have blood or organs in the way we expect, with a handful of exceptions, which means they often don’t have a centralized brain. I used a computer to interface with the ectoplasm and preprogram it with a set of experiences and personality parameters. I injected manufactured human DNA into the mix and a human growth hormone and hoped for the best.”

“I take it you figured out the correct amount of growth hormone? I still remember the flood…”

“It’s best we don’t discuss the flood, Maddie.”

“Is Dani not me, then? Like, she doesn’t have my DNA?” Danny asked.

“Of course she’s not you, Daniel, she’s female,” Vlad said exasperated. “I used your DNA in the mixture but injecting human DNA into ectoplasm and adding a human growth hormone accelerated mutations, and the computer did its best to fill in the gaps that formed – like creating a new X chromosome to account for a corrupted Y. My guess would be if you ran a DNA test you’d be related, but not like siblings, maybe second or third cousins?”

“I must be bothering you today, I’m Daniel again,” Danny observed. “So, what, if she’s not me, and you were never going to create me, just an approximation, why go through all the trouble of getting my morph DNA in the first place?”

“Hubris, I suppose,” Vlad said with a small shrug. Dani was forcefully reminded of the tone he had used when he swore he would fix her with Danny’s morph DNA all those months ago. He was hiding something.

She looked at him suspiciously. “And what will the morph DNA do exactly?”

“The AI will analyze it,” Vlad explained, “to isolate the component that allows Danny and myself to switch between ghost and human DNA strands. The ability to make ghost or human DNA express itself. It should become more apparent if a sample is taken mid morph. We will then add this gene to your structure. This will necessitate gene therapy and a period of unconsciousness but I doubt there will be any notable impact on your personality.”

“What if… what if it can’t isolate the gene?” Maddie asked, echoing the question Dani had thought of but had been too afraid to ask.

Vlad looked grim. “The ecto-dejecto may be the only option then.”

Dani let out a breath, focusing to pull the ectoplasm leaking from her feet back into her body. She had no energy or thought left to be concerned about her future when she may shortly no longer have a present. They needed to hurry.

***

It was with great relief that Dani exited the specter speeder and breathed fresh air. She stumbled slightly in the grass. Danny Phantom was suddenly at her side, picking her up.

Vlad paused immediately outside the front door, hand outstretched to open it.

“Vlad?” Maddie asked impatiently. “Problem?”

“Yes, actually. I… er… I’m really, really, sorry about the Maddie program. Unfortunately, I’ll need a lab assistant so… don’t yell at me too much?” he asked somewhat sheepishly.

Vlad threw open the front doors.

“Maddie, I’m home,” he announced to the room.

Danny and Maddie jumped when a holographic form appeared. “Welcome home, lamb chop,” it said.

Maddie sized up the version of herself. “Well this is awkward.” She said finally.

“Maddie, prep one chamber for extraction, and one for fusion.”

“On it, dear heart.”

It disappeared.

“Vlad…” the real Maddie growled. “I know you’re more than capable of making her just like me, not this simpering panderer.”

“Yes, but then she rejected me for the Jack program,” Vlad said nervously. “She’s just a hologram with your face that sings my praises, and I’ve retired her from most locations, I swear, once we’re done with this we can delete her parameters.”

Maddie sniffed. “Alright.”

“Good,” Vlad said relieved. “Take Danielle to the lab. As Danny said, I’m in need of a shower. The machine will take some prep time. You know how to get there, Danny?”

“Sure do,” Danny said.

Vlad walked off.

Dani was carried down into the lab space. It was getting harder to focus. That didn’t bode well. The Maddie program was hovering around the machines. She flipped switches and turned knobs, reading the displays that lit up. They watched her work in silence for some minutes.

“Are you actually touching those?” Maddie asked, curious. The hologram didn’t deviate from its task.

“I was given physical form using the same technology that built the human-ghost shield, dialed back so that I don’t zap anything I touch of course,” it answered.

“Does that mean you can touch Vlad? Without hurting him?” Maddie asked, looking rather alarmed.

“Technically, it’s possible,” the hologram said. “But the second directive in my programming is not to touch another individual be they ghost or human. Therefore, I cannot touch him, nor you.”

Maddie relaxed. Dani was confused.

“For a moment, I thought…”

“Even I’m not that much of a sleaze, Maddie,” a freshly groomed Vlad Masters sunk through the ceiling. He still wasn’t wearing the suit Dani was used to but had on dark wash jeans and a black button up shirt, with nice loafers.

“That’s awfully casual of you Vlad,” Dani said automatically.

“The suits were starting to feel a bit ridiculous for weekend wear,” he said matter of fact. “Besides, this may make a mess. I don’t want ectoplasm on my suit. Are we ready, Maddie?”

Maddie went to answer, but the hologram interrupted. “Machine is prepped for extraction, love muffin.”

“Delete directive five,” Vlad snapped, his face flushing red.

“Done.” The hologram replied. No endearment that time.

“Good. Now delete directive one.”

“Error,” the hologram responded. “Directive one is absolute.”

“Delete directive one,” Vlad repeated.

“Directive one cannot be deleted,” the hologram insisted.

“Sure, it can,” Vlad glared. “Perhaps with a bit of persuasion…. Maddie, change target of directive one to Maddie Fenton.”

The hologram blinked. “Change complete,” it said.

“Maddie, you have to command her now,” Vlad said, aggravated. “You would have had to do it anyway.”

Vlad rolled up his sleeves and marched into the pod, turning around to face them. Bindings immediately seized his wrists and ankles. He seemed to shrink the instant they were in place.

“Ok, here’s how this is going to work. You’re going to ask Maddie to begin the extraction program. Then I’ll be closed in here, and … encouraged… to take ghost form. DNA will be extracted. Then I’ll be encouraged to take human form. DNA will be extracted again. Then it will release me. If absolutely necessary, use the phrase ‘emergency stop code alpha’ to halt the process. It shouldn’t be necessary. Ready?”

“Vlad…” the real Maddie asked with some concern. “What is directive one?”

“It’s for whose orders the Maddie program obeys,” Vlad said.

“Then why delete it?” Maddie asked in absolute befuddlement.

“Directive one,” the hologram said, “My Creator is Maddie Fenton. Let no harm come to the creator either by action or inaction. Directive two. Do not touch the creator or any other living creature unless in direct violation of directive one. Directive three. Listen to all commands of the creator unless it violates directive one or two. Commands of others may be obeyed at your discretion. Directive four-”

“We get it,” the real Maddie said quickly. “Vlad… just how dangerous is this?”

“Maddie, start the extraction,” Vlad said. The hologram didn’t move.

“Vlad…”

“Danielle is going to die if we don’t do this,” Vlad snarled. “I already tried to do this to Danny, remember? Keep me waiting any longer and you’ll get to witness a panic attack though.”

Vlad shook his bound wrists for emphasis. “Just start this, and let’s get it over with.”

“Mom?” Danny asked.

“Is there another way?” Maddie asked.

“None I can think of quickly,” Vlad said.

“There’s the ecto-dejecto…” Maddie started. Vlad shook his head.

“No. Let me do this. I want to do this. It’s a calculated risk. DNA has never been extracted mid morph, so there’s a chance I may become somewhat unstable. What that means is anyone’s guess. Or nothing at all could happen. Either way, I’m willing to undertake that risk, but the Maddie program wouldn’t have allowed it under the original first directive. Begin the extraction. Please.”

For a moment it looked like Maddie wouldn’t give the order. However, she softened as she gazed into Vlad’s eyes and even Dani could see how grimly determined he was.

“Alright,” Maddie agreed somewhat reluctantly. “Maddie, begin the extraction.”

The hologram silently pressed a button. The pod closed.

“Beginning extraction,” it said.

The pod glowed with a white light. Dani could see Vlad morph to the strange looking Plasmius through the glass.

“Vital signs stable,” the hologram said. “DNA extracted. Biological record created. Initiating morph back.”

The white light flashed again and Vlad switched back to human form.

“Ectoplasmic signature stable,” the hologram intoned. “DNA extraction successful. Slight elevated heart rate and blood pressure. Normalizing. Releasing the pod.”

The pod opened with a hiss and Vlad practically ripped himself free before the restraints had finished opening.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Vlad said as he collected his composure.

“Uh huh,” Maddie said disbelievingly. “Please don’t tell me the only reason you risked your life was to complete the damn list Jack gave you.”

“Maddie, I have no intention of donating my money to charity, so the list will never be complete.”

“You also said at one point you would never step down from Vladco, and you did that.”

“Well, you gave me Fenton Works, it’s practically equal value. Or it will be. Let us not discuss this further, I need to make sure there were no negative effects from the extraction.”

Vlad morphed to Plasmius quickly. “How do I look?” he asked the room. “Any unnatural human characteristics poking through?”

“Analysis indicates you are displaying no human symptoms,” the hologram stated.

“Your cape!” Dani exclaimed. As she watched the red and white fabric rippled as if in an invisible wind but it was fading… and then it was gone.

Vlad swiped a hand where the cape used to be. “Thank goodness, I was wondering when that pretentious thing would go away. Maybe I’ve finally got some humility after all.”

“Not with that attitude you don’t,” Danny snorted.

“Yes, well, we’re going to go with the theory the cape was well on its way out,” Vlad said impatiently. “Unless anything else seems to be morphing before your eyes?”

They gave him a hard look.

“You seem to be fine,” Maddie said finally.

“Good,” Vlad said. “Maddie program, what’s the ETA on DNA analysis?”

“Four hours,” the hologram said.

“Alright. Danielle,” Vlad said, and Dani immediately straightened, surprised to be addressed.

“When this analysis is complete,” Vlad continued, “We will attempt to integrate the isolated components with your structure using that pod. You will be put under for the procedure. However, this is something that has not been done before. In theory you’ll be fine, just like in theory extracting my morph DNA would be fine, but with anything new, there are risks. You need to understand your options. Either we attempt to fuse you with the morph DNA to make you a true, stable half ghost at the risk of death if it goes wrong, or we give you the ecto-dejecto and risk you becoming full ghost if _that_ goes wrong… or we do nothing at all and guarantee your death. You should think carefully, my de- Dani.”

Dani felt herself break into a cold sweat. “I… might die if we try to use the morph DNA?”

“It’s a risk,” Vlad said solemnly.

“Vlad, if it was so risky, why did you risk your own life to extract your morph DNA?” Danny asked incredulously.

“It would hardly be fair to Danielle if I asked her to take my own life into account when she made her decision,” Vlad said impatiently. “I gave her the knowledge of a teenager but was only able to mature her to ten. That’s an enormous burden to put on a child. Deciding her own fate is bad enough.”

“Children shouldn’t have to make these decisions,” Maddie said sadly.

“I know. My fault, but it wouldn’t be right to dictate what she should do with her life now,” Vlad responded. His blue eyes met Dani’s and she was startled to see some emotion to them. In the whole time she’d known the man she called father, she’d never seen him look at her that way.

“I’ll leave you to think,” he said. With that, he teleported away in a purple swirl of energy.

***

The four hours were almost up, and Dani still wasn’t completely certain what she should do. Perhaps being a ghost wouldn’t be that bad?

As a human, life was uncertain. She had no guardian. She knew it wouldn’t be fair to ask the Fentons to take her in. Vlad might do it if she asked in front of this audience, but Dani didn’t want to force herself upon him either. It was his fault she was alive in the first place, so he should take responsibility, but… Dani couldn’t trust him. She’d be miserable living with him.

That left foster care, an orphanage, or an adoption by strangers who would not know her or understand her ghost powers.

Yet… giving up her humanity sounded just as easy as amputating her right arm. Possible, but highly unpleasant. What should she do…?

“Danielle,” Maddie said. “We can take you in until we find you a more permanent home. We’ve got a guest room, and no matter what, we’ll keep in touch. You’re family. I’m positive Vlad would provide for you financially as well. I won’t give him a choice.”

Maddie smiled kindly. Dani felt herself tearing up.

“Thank you, Mrs. Fenton,” she said.

“Analysis complete,” the hologram said suddenly. “DNA component isolated. Impact of fusion – minimal change. Prognosis – 90% chance of successful integration with clone number 29.”

“Clone number 29?” Danny asked the hologram.

“Yes, designation Dani Phantom,” the hologram clarified.

In a swirl of pink energy, Vlad was back.

“Are you psychic or something? Or were you just invisible?” Danny asked, only half joking.

“The Maddie program summoned me,” he responded. “She can appear all over this house you know. I was just upstairs.”

“Dani… have you decided?” Vlad asked.

Everyone was looking at her. It was her choice…

“I … want to be human. I’ll risk it,” she said finally. She hoped she was making the right decision.

***

“-ni? Dani? Can you hear me? Dani?”

_Dad?_

Dani groaned and opened her eyes. Blue eyes were far too close to hers.

“Caramel crunch, don’t do that to me,” he laughed nervously. “Thought we’d lost you there.”

Dani moved slowly. Everything hurt, but at the same time she felt… strong. Steady on her feet.

Dani was in human form. She had entered the capsule as a ghost. Experimentally she switched. It happened seamlessly, and she didn’t feel like her body was on the verge of shattering as she had felt for so many months. She switched back to human. Ghost. Human. Ghost.

“Thank goodness,” Maddie said. Dani noticed with some alarm her eyes were very wet.

“Um… how close did I come to dying?” she asked nervously.

“Too close,” Danny said, and he was very pale. He gave a sidelong glance at Vlad. “I’ve never seen Vlad so frantic.”

“We should keep you under close observation,” Vlad said quickly. “To make sure there are no lasting ill effects.”

“We can do that,” Maddie said firmly.

“I know I made a promise to not use my ghost powers for crime,” Vlad said, “But she’s going to need a birth certificate and social security card. I can forge them with a little time and get them into the government’s system. Think you can manage Fenton Works without me?”

“Of course,” Maddie said. “We’ll make sure not to burn the place down.”

“No easy task with Jack,” Vlad said cheekily. He quickly redirected his gaze to Dani.

“Dani, this is important. I can’t record your name as Danielle Phantom on the birth record, that would be silly. Would you like to be Danielle Fenton? Any middle name preferences? I had picked Madelaine, but that may be a bit presumptuous of me.”

Dani paused. Danielle Fenton didn’t seem… right. She realized with some shock she knew exactly what did.

“Um… I’d like to be Danielle Madelaine Masters, if that’s alright. If you need a name for the parents on the birth certificate, you can put yours as my father.”

Dani was familiar with the expression that someone ‘about fell over’ with shock. She never thought she’d actually see it.

“What?” Vlad asked, completely taken aback. “Are you certain?”

Dani nodded, surprised at herself.

“But… why?” Vlad asked baffled.

“Well… I’m alive because of you, aren’t I? If you didn’t create me, I wouldn’t even be here, so thank you.”

“No, my dear,” Vlad said with a frown. “You’re not here _because_ of me, you’re here _despite_ me. This is a huge decision. Are you absolutely certain?”

“I am. I won’t call you dad though.”

Not yet. But one day, it would be nice if…

“You can put my sister down as her mother,” Maddie said. “If you’re comfortable putting your own name on the birth record that is. She’ll agree if I explain. And that would make Danielle officially my niece.”

Dani felt warm. Family. It may not be the way she’d envisioned when she’d first come into existence, but it was hers now.

“Alright… if you’re sure?”

Dani nodded firmly. “I’m sure.”

“Let’s return to Amity Park,” Maddie said. “We should celebrate. It is Dani’s birthday after all.”

“It is?” Dani asked confused.

“It seems like a birth date to me,” Maddie smiled. “You were born June 30th 1997\. You turned ten today. How does that sound.”

Dani couldn’t help but grin.

“Sounds perfect.”

_12:03 pm, Sunday, October 28 th, Gelding Psychology office_

_~Sharon Gelding~_

Vlad was more agitated than Sharon had seen him in a while. She had predicted this may happen. He’d completed every task on his ‘redemption list’  -except donating his fortune which he apparently decided alongside the Fentons was not necessary. Sharon had long suspected he was focusing on making amends to distract him from his more villainous desires. Without them to focus on he was likely going to be tempted back into his old ways, if he hadn’t slipped already.

“Vlad? What’s wrong?” Sharon prompted as the man in front of her disintegrated the pen he had been fiddling with in a tiny explosion of pink energy. This display of ghost powers was no longer unusual and Sharon could barely bring herself to be surprised when he had explained. This _was_ Amity Park.

She expected him to say his life felt empty now that he was devoid of direction. What she wasn’t expecting-

“Have I ever told you that I’ve never been in a committed relationship?”

Sharon paused. “No, you haven’t, not in so many words.”

He fidgeted.

“I find now I’m at a point – my job is fulfilling. Fenton Works is taking off. Jack, Maddie and I are getting along. I have friends. I have a social life, which I’ve never really had before. Heck, I even have a daughter who visits me on the weekends. I have hobbies. I’ve gotten rid of most of my ghost artifacts and haven’t gone looking for more. I’m content with my life as it is, but…”

He sighed, pulling a piece of paper from his jean pocket.

“I got this phone number at an 80’s night,” he smiled wryly. “And I realized I want to call her, I’m interested but…”

He shook the paper a bit. “I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I had my hang-ups before the Master came into my life. But now?”

“I know you mentioned being infatuated with Maddie Fenton,” Sharon said. “Was there anyone else in your life besides her?”

“Not infatuated, obsessed,” Vlad corrected. “By the time I graduated college and recovered from my illness, I was a billionaire within the year. I had quite a few women fawning after me because of my wealth, and I indulged occasionally. Key word being occasionally. I never allowed myself to be emotionally available. I took what I wanted and left them quickly. I have no idea how to go about the dating scene. Most people sort it out in high school. I don’t want to screw it up.”

“Mistakes may be made,” Sharon started, “but as we’ve discussed, there is no such thing as perfection, especially when it comes to social situations. Just do what comes naturally, communicate, and if things work out, great, but if you lack chemistry it’s acceptable to break up and move on.”

“You make it sound so easy,” he smiled. “I’m concerned if I attempt this, and I do so earnestly, I may end up obsessing again. Becoming possessive. Abusive. I cannot allow that to happen.”

“The fact that you’re aware of your tendency to go to extremes is a start,” Sharon said. “Usually possessive behavior spawns from insecurity. You’ve already made progress in that regard, and we can work further as issues manifest. That’s why we’re here. I noticed you said you are happy with your life as it is?”

“Of course I am.”

“And you mean that.”

“I do. Really. I don’t think I’ve ever felt content before-“

“Then a relationship should only enhance your happiness. You can be happy regardless of whether or not this works out.”

“I should call her,” he said. “I should but… I haven’t.”

“Some nervousness is natural. We can work through this. When you picture calling her and asking for a date, what answer makes you more nervous? Her saying yes, or her saying no?”

He paused to seriously consider and started wringing his hands again. Sharon hoped he wouldn’t damage anything else in his anxiety.

“Saying yes,” he said finally. “I’m used to rejection. I can handle more.”

Sharon wasn’t so sure of that.

“What may happen if she says yes that you won’t like?”

“I can handle dinner, and conversation, I’m good at that. I… understand revealing my half-ghost nature will become necessary at some point, but it’s hardly first date material. I could handle rejection due to that, I think. But…. Normal couple things. Physical intimacy. And not just sex. Cuddling. Hand-holding. I jump a mile in the air if I’m tapped on the shoulder from behind. I start to panic if a hug lingers for too long and I’m not let go. I don’t want to have to explain what happened between me and the Master, and I’m not even sure what new issues I’ll encounter. I don’t really have a vast wealth of sexual experience to fall back on either.”

“Vlad, my apologies for the personal question. Have your masturbation habits changed since the incident?”

He flushed. “I… yes. I used to engage two or three times a week, but the few attempts I’ve made since the event… I haven’t panicked, but I found myself feeling… repulsed by my own desire. Ashamed.”

“We can work through that.”

“I don’t see how,” Vlad frowned. “I know logically there’s nothing to be ashamed of, it doesn’t stop me from feeling it.”

“Are you able to determine what about the process makes you feel ashamed?”

“It’s hard to put into words,” he said slowly. “I think… honestly, before the incident I would only ever masturbate to… fantasies of Maddie. I don’t even watch porn – don’t ask, I don’t want to hash through the why of that, it predates this whole mess. Now, fantasizing of Maddie is completely undesirable, and that leaves me with erotic pictures of women I don’t know, and that works for a spell but…”

He trailed off, looking helpless. “One of two things always happens. Either Maddie’s face sneaks in somehow, and I end up ashamed, or… the first time I achieved… sorry this is awkward.”

Sharon waited.

“The first time I orgasmed after the incident,” Vlad continued with more determination, “I immediately realized it didn’t compare to the time… the Master brought me to climax.”

Sharon hadn’t heard the particulars of the assaults before. Before she could engage him-

“I never realized just how potent a prostate massage can make an orgasm, and now every time I think of masturbating I want to try it that way, but…”

His face was red as a brick.

“You feel ashamed by these desires,” she helped him.

“Repulsed,” he said adamantly. “It’s a boner killer the instant I realize my thoughts are going there. Logically I realize that it is an erogenous zone, but _he_ was the one who introduced me to it, and it feels like… if I give into that desire it’s like saying I… liked what he did to me. I didn’t, but maybe… I’m not attracted to men, I’m still not… But I keep thinking of _him_.”

“It’s not uncommon to associate a particular sex act with a certain individual. Remembering your assailant when masturbating isn’t uncommon, and in no way indicates you ‘liked it’.”

“I reached orgasm,” he said glumly. “Of course I liked it.”

“Reaching orgasm and being alright with the violation are two different things entirely,” Sharon said with some urgency. “Arousal can be induced with the right stimuli. But being aroused or reaching orgasm does not change the fact that you were raped.”

“You’re saying my male rapist popping into my head while going at it in no way makes me a homosexual?” he asked humorlessly.

“You said yourself you don’t feel attracted to other men. It sounds like a strong mental association has been built between the act of prostate massage and your assailant, but there’s nothing homosexual about the act itself,” Sharon reassured. “Quite a few straight men like it as a matter of fact. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying it. Nothing.”

He looked up at her vaguely. He seemed to see the truth in her eyes, for he relented.

“It… will take me some time to work through. Calling this woman doesn’t mean we have to have sex – I’d like to get to know her first. But I’d rather not burn her hand if she makes a bold unexpected move. How do I prevent that?”

“You can be open from the start about needing clear consent before engaging in physical contact.”

He made a face. “I don’t want to come across as damaged goods. If there was only a way I could practice…”

His eyes lit up. “I can practice!”

Sharon was baffled. “How?”

He grinned and in the blink of the eye, Sharon was looking at a ghost standing next to him, all blue skin, wild black hair, white clothes and black gloves.

“Of course, I draw the line at any sort of sexual intimacy with myself, but I can at least try to acclimate myself to not jumping out of my own skin when tapped on the shoulder.”

This was hardly something Sharon was used to, but…

“That may help, but please remember there is no replacement for open communication with a perspective partner. Should your relationship progress, I’ll be there to help you with the new challenges that brings.”

_7:30 pm, Monday, October 29 th, Vlad’s apartment_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad just barely managed to catch the glass before it shattered on the floor, his heart pounding a mile a minute.

“This may not have been one of my better ideas,” he muttered, moving to finish washing the glass.

“Agreed,” the clone said from behind him. “I’m beginning to feel like a jerk. More of one than normal anyway. I’m not sure this is helping. Don’t forget, you’ll remember this from my perspective too when we fuse back together. Do try not to make me feel _too_ guilty.”

Vlad sighed. He had hoped he’d stop jumping when he knew full well his clone would tap him on the shoulder at regular intervals, but…

“If I could at least avoid objects phasing through my hands, that’d be a start.”

“Dr. Gelding may be right, we may just have to accept this is how we are, and that it’s no quick fix. Communicating our dislike for being touched unexpectedly couldn’t go amiss.”

Logically Vlad knew that. Still, acting like a frightened child from something so insignificant as a shoulder tap was disheartening. Any unexpected touch, especially from behind was cause for alarm.

“Still want to try, erm, cuddling?” the clone asked uncomfortably. “Don’t forget I’m you, and this whole thing is uncomfortable from any perspective.”

Vlad met the clone’s glowing red eyes. He knew his would match, but they both were human. Vlad found it impossible to maintain a human clone while in completely human form, so he had compromised with the eyes. There was no way he would let a ghost touch him, not even his ghost half.

“If we’re going to finish knitting those scarves in time for Christmas, I could use some help. It wouldn’t hurt to sit on the couch and knit side by side,” Vlad said.

Apartment living was curious. If ever Vlad felt the emptiness of the room weighing down on him he merely had to pause and listen for sounds of life, and he quickly found them. It made him feel somehow safe – and it quelled the illogical fear that the Master would burst from the shadows. The downside was if he could hear his neighbors, they could hear him. He wondered if they overheard any of this conversation, and if they assumed he was talking to himself.

The clone nodded at the proposal. “Seems reasonable. I’ll start making Jack’s. Shame nothing goes with orange, or we could go for some color variety. Black is hardly festive.”

“He’ll like it.”

“We could always buy them something, you know.”

“We’d be accused of buying their friendship. And they wouldn’t be wrong- this is more effort, and even if they don’t wear them, they’ll understand.”

“Or they may assume we put in extra effort to buy their friendship through different means. Would that be wrong?”

“This is what friends do, isn’t it?”

“Like we’d know.”

“Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, you know.”

Both Vlads chuckled. It was a bizarre experience.

Knitting was a familiar pastime and they settled on the couch comfortably enough, side by side, legs barely touching, just enough to get used to the idea of being in close proximity to another human being.

Vlad could feel that both of them were tense. At least he had extra knitting supplies…

Vlad pursued his task with determination, working on Dani’s scarf. It was navy blue, with the Phantom insignia on the end. He’d make the other end match as soon as he got that far. Knitting letters wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it seemed worth it.

It took time, but Vlad slowly felt the tension drain out of him. The clone relaxed as well. Vlad wondered how his date would go – he did have one, Friday night. Part of him was already making plans to break it off. Men his age were expected to have a certain wealth of experience – most men in the dating game in their forties were divorced. They’d had tons of time to build relationship and intimacy skills, but Vlad? He was feeling more and more like a blushing virgin when he thought about it.

The clone seemed to be having similar thoughts.

“You know…” the clone said hesitantly. “We could try watching porn…”

It hung in the air.

“It is next to impossible the same thing will happen twice,” Vlad agreed hesitantly. “But… watching porn for educational purposes? Really? Aren’t you supposed to learn through experience? How could we trust anything we saw to be a standard for normal sexual intimacy anyway?”

“True… but deliberately avoiding it because of one incident doesn’t seem healthy either…”

For a while they knitted in silence.

“If the mood strikes,” Vlad decided. “Not because we feel we have to in order to be considered normal.”

The clone relaxed. “That’s what I was thinking.”

“Logically,” Vlad said dryly. “We’re the same person.”

“Somehow it’s easier to think when we talk out loud like this though.”

Vlad hummed in agreement.

***

It was late. Vlad had made good progress on the scarf, despite Celeste’s occasional interference with the yarn, and he had dismissed his clone ages ago. He _could_ sleep, but…

Vlad cast a half-hearted glance at his bedside table – where he still kept the lube. All the talk of sex he’d been having lately was still on his mind… he really did want to try it. To achieve an orgasm like the one the Master had given him, and maybe if he could manage it, it would be like defeating him. Putting him in his place. Proving to himself that he could take that kind of pleasure on his own. Dr. Gelding had suggested he think of it in that context, and he suspected she may be right.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to do it. It was a necessary step to taking his life back. But he couldn’t think of Maddie, that was a violation of her trust, and a road he no longer wanted to travel down. If he attempted to think of nothing and no one, he knew the Master’s visage would pop into his thoughts as it so often did.

Vlad hesitated, unsure. Then an idea suddenly occurred to him. In his youth he could get away with thinking of no particular woman, but, he had always been rather fond of…

Vlad left the bedroom to grab his laptop from his desk in the living space and returned to the bedroom once more. He’d be surprised if it took more than ten steps. Apartments were so quaint.

He fiddled with it a bit until he brought up his music. Madonna was quite attractive back in the day, he could picture her quite clearly, and if he set some of her music in the background, quiet, but there, perhaps he could prevent annoying pop up thoughts.

It was worth a shot.

The downside of apartments was if he could hear his neighbors, they could hear him. He fiddled with the music until it was loud enough to drown out any noise he may make, but not so loud as to be easily recognizable. It was somewhat late after all. After adjusting the volume between two levels for the tenth time Vlad realized he was stalling. He didn’t have to do this. Masturbation was supposed to be a relaxing, pleasured, or cathartic endeavor after all. The urge should be born from passion, or perhaps boredom, not a personal challenge.

But he needed this.

Vlad had taken to sleeping in just his underwear, no longer fond of the many buttons of his pajama shirt. The shower would have been his preferred venue but… no music there, and he wasn’t sure he could attempt what he had planned standing up. Vlad tried not to think too much about what he was doing as he grabbed the lube from his nightstand drawer where it had sat for ages, unused. He arranged himself on top of the covers, on his back, head propped up by pillows, and he let his legs fall open. It was an unfortunately familiar posture.

Vlad clamped down on the anxiety that was starting to brew and focused on the song lyrics. He felt a little silly as he did his best to imagine Madonna singing the song, perhaps directly to him… he was her private audience, and she was going to introduce him to a new realm of pleasure…

Silly or not, Vlad felt himself relax minutely, glad to not be thinking about – damn it and his tension was back.

Vlad hummed a bit, using the lube to coat his hand and give himself a few experimental strokes.

His cock responded readily, and Vlad started with a familiar rhythm, stroking himself base to head, twisting his hand slightly as he approached the tip. It had been far too long. Tension bled slowly from his body and he was able to breathe, relax. His hand glided smoothly, aided by the lube. He could probably cum just like this if he gave it time, but…

Vlad coated his left hand with lube and resumed stroking himself with his right.

Madonna’s music was poppy and full of confidence. He hummed along a bit, reaching with his left hand towards his anus.

A hiss escaped Vlad’s lips unbidden when he breached himself with his pointer finger. There was only one other time in his life he had done this and – no, no, Madonna remember? Surely this was possible. If he had to actually start singing along, so be it! No, actually, no, that was a terrible idea.

Vlad let out a little laugh at himself and managed to bury his finger to the hilt. His cock was still interested, hot and heavy in his hand. Though it may not be as big as a certain someone’s who he was certainly not thinking about at all….

Vlad focused on the sensation from his right hand, familiar pleasure, and determinedly focused on remembering the song lyrics. Vlad wiggled his left index finger experimentally, searching for what he now knew was there…

He jumped a bit as his finger finally located its target. Now that he knew where it was, he could feel that there was a definite spot that could be found by feel alone. He wondered how he had gone so far in life without realizing it was there. This was all about his own pleasure, so one finger should be plenty… using both hands like this meant he was going to make a mess though.

Vlad thrust the digit against the sweet spot experimentally and let out an audible moan as pleasure intensified in his lower belly, and he broke out into a fine sheen of sweat. That little bit alone had brought him close to climax. Damn, he was needy.

Music and sensation. Madonna, all perky breasts, ruby red lips and striking blue eyes. Keeping up the movements of his right hand, Vlad began to move his left in earnest, stimulating his prostate over, and over, varying the pressure and size of the strokes, trying to find what felt right, what felt good, and Vlad knew he was making noises but didn’t want to try to stop himself, couldn’t afford to be self-conscious, not when the whole point of this was to-

He was close. Vlad gripped his arousal more firmly and increased the speed, trying to coordinate both his hands in somewhat different motions, and damn was he vocal, but the dual sensations were just too intense to be endured in silence, heat was pooling-

Vlad achieved orgasm with a cry, toes curling as he milked his cock and prostate for all he was worth, warm liquid spraying his belly as he achieved his release. Vlad slumped into the bedsheets in a daze.

It took him almost a full minute to achieve coherent thought again. That had to be the best orgasm he’d experienced in his life. Far better than anything he’d managed with – than he’d managed before. No negative emotions to accompany this one, just pure bliss. His face was damp. It seemed there had been tears at some point. Vlad was too strung out to determine what had triggered them and decided it didn’t really matter.

Giggling a bit manically, Vlad listened absently to the music still playing, grinning from ear to ear. It had been more than just an orgasm – it had signaled his victory, his autonomy, and reasserted his sexuality as his own. Vlad Masters belonged to no Master other than himself.

_2:45 pm, Sunday, November 25 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Maddie was in a state of shock. She quickly grabbed another strand of anti-ectoplasm stained carpet fiber and looked at it under the microscope. Baseline. Then-

Maddie removed the sample and blasted it with her new gun. She put it back under the microscope heart pounding. The cells had lost their structural integrity. Punctured, scattered mush with no defined structure remained. It worked.

Microwaves, of all things. Maddie had only tossed a sample in the kitchen microwave in a fit of frustration at their lack of progress. Never had she believed it would actually have an effect. It was a small one, but with some tweaking of frequencies and experimenting, finally she’d built something that devastated anti-ectoplasm.

Maddie quickly traversed her house to the Fenton Ops Center where Jack was more often than not.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Maddie said as soon as she entered the room. Jack looked at her and waved. Three vulture ghosts sat perched around the table.

“You humans have many questions,” the middle vulture was saying to Jack in its raspy voice, “Spending a few years to answer them after two thousand years of involuntary servitude is the least we can do.”

“No trouble at all, boys, glad to help.” Jack said happily.

“You may stay out of some obligation,” the leftmost vulture squawked. “I stay for the conversation. Most ghosts are so uncouth.”

Maddie nodded respectfully at the vultures. It would be hard to get used to them. Vlad had delivered the scepter into their care some time ago and said to do what they wanted with them – it had taken some doing but they had managed to undo the ancient magics with the help of a dragon woman Danny knew called Dora. Vlad seemed relieved when he heard they were freed but had since done his best to avoid them. The vultures ventured forth on weekends to say hello, and Jack and Maddie had seized the opportunity to learn from them. They recorded the sessions of course.

“Jack,” Maddie said quickly. “We’re ready. The gun works.”

Jack’s eyes went wide in understanding.

“Would you excuse me gentlemen,” he said quickly. “You may go home. We’ve got something important to do.”

“What gives?” The last of the vultures asked, curious.

“We’re going ghost hunting,” Maddie said grimly. “For the one known as the Master. Or One Touch Kill.”

The ghosts gave out a simultaneous very birdlike screech. It was hard to pick out their words but Maddie thought she heard things like ‘good riddance’ and ‘are you insane?’ and ‘impossible’ in the mix.

“Not to worry, we’ve got this,” Jack said happily.

The birds somehow managed to convey disbelief in their posture.

“Your funeral,” One shrugged. The three phased through the floor, toward the portal, Maddie supposed.

“We do got this, right?” Jack asked with a bit more seriousness.

“I’m confident in the weapon,” Maddie said hefting the tiny firearm. “And we keyed the Boo-merang to anti-ectoplasm ages ago. We’ll find him. And we’ll kill him.”

Maddie set her jaw in determination. Ripping ghosts apart molecule by molecule was nothing new – only now they knew them to be sentient beings. It was murder. It was also necessary, and according to a ghost named Walker, the Master had been sentenced to death for his war crimes a long time ago. Ghosts would not hate them for it. Humans had no laws about destroying interdimensional beings. Yet. The only price they may pay was the potential weighing down of their conscience.

“We can do this,” Jack reassured. “It’s necessary.”

It was. The Master was an obsessive type with limited personality, like the way Maddie had once thought all ghosts were. The Master would never rest until he had claimed another victim. Left to his own devices, he may break out and attack another. It could be days, years, centuries, but it would occur. He had to be stopped.

***

Maddie and Jack sat in the Specter Speeder, determinedly following the Boo-merang. Down, down, down, into the green abyss.

It took an alarmingly short amount of time.

There was a floating island, little more than a craggy rock, and upon it stood a familiar visage, all pale skin, muscle and black pulsing veins, tattoo plainly visible about his neck. He caught the Boo-merang mere inches from making contact with his face.

He recognized them too.

His face warped into a snarl.

“Come to gloat?” his voice filtered into the Specter Speeder through the intercom, giving it a slight electronic distortion. “Or perhaps you are here to take me back? My pet has likely been insufferable without me.”

Maddie disliked the look he was giving them. Her resolve hardened. She knew what she must do.

Maddie opened the door to the specter speeder and leaned out, taking aim with the tiny gun. The Master paused upon seeing it.

“You think you can stop me?” he asked incredulously. “I’ve been shot before. A highly unpleasant experience, but I heal quickly. How many bullets do you have? If anything, I expected another round with an axe. How is my pet by the way? Does he beg for me in his sleep? He may deny it, but I know he’s a filthy little-“

Maddie pulled the trigger.

The reaction was more violent than she expected.

Maddie let out a shout as the place that the Master stood was engulfed in an eruption of black goop, the body completely vanishing as it exploded outward, and Maddie would have likely have gotten covered in the gunk if Jack hadn’t pulled the speeder back.

When the anti-ectoplasm settled, all that remained was a dark black spot, anti-ectoplasm viscous and clotting, oozing into the dirt, dripping down deeper into the ghost zone. Maddie prayed not too many ghosts would be injured by it. Where was the Master? Was he really dead? Was this all that remained?

“Take us closer,” Maddie requested.

“You got it, sweet cheeks,” Jack answered, encouraging the speeder to move forward at a far slower pace than his normal enthusiasm dictated.

All too soon they landed at the island. Maddie exited the speeder tentatively, clinging to her weapon and approaching the sludgy mess. She nervously toed a rather large clump and a distinctive shape made itself apparent. The Boo-merang.

Gagging slightly, Maddie stooped to pick it up. Black dripped from it to the ground in wet clumps. She held it as far from her body as possible, carrying it back to the speeder.

“Jack, decontamination container,” she asked, but he was already holding one out to her. She dropped the Boo-merang into it.

“Aren’t you going to get the other thing?” Jack asked her.

“What other thing?”

“You know, that… that, Monkey thing? Danny talked about it.”

Maddie vaguely recalled the conversation and turned back to the mess that was apparently all that remained of the Master.

She really, really didn’t want to go sifting through it, but…

Maddie screwed up her face in determination. Since she had totally obliterated the ghost, it was the least she could do to face the carnage head on.

Maddie tentatively poked at the mess with her boot, trying to avoid thinking of it as ghost guts. Too late.

Maddie dry heaved but continued to poke around. To her surprise, her foot connected with something solid and metal. She honestly hadn’t expected to find it.

She bent down and grabbed at it.

A necklace. The chain was simple, and the medallion at the center was completely obscured under the muck, but there was only one thing it could be. The Monkey’s paw.

As she grabbed it firmly in her gloved hand, the black ectoplasm seemed to shift. Maddie felt a surge of panic, and nearly dropped the thing she was holding but…

It was turning green. The black slime morphed into the familiar green ectoplasm she had seen so often, even the bits dripping over the edge of the island seemed to take on a green hue. This medallion was dangerous.

Maddie held it as far from her person as possible as she carried it back to the speeder. It was too dangerous to leave behind, but she didn’t really want it with them. Danny had mentioned Clockwork dealt with dangerous objects. He may know what to do with it, but Maddie did not want to spend more time in the ghost zone than she had to. Humans were not welcome here.

As she deposited it into the decontamination container she noticed that the ectoplasm on the Boo-merang had also turned green. Some things defied explanation.

_8:00 am, Monday, November 26 th, Fenton Works_

_~Maddie~_

Vlad arrived as he always did, punctual – and through the ceiling.

“You know, one day people are going to wonder how you lead Fenton Works but never leave your apartment,” Maddie teased.

The ghost that looked back at her was a far cry from the way the Wisconsin ghost had first appeared. Eyes red yet human, black hair in a wild mane down his shoulders. No more fangs, nor pointy ears, no more pretentious cape. His skin was still blue, and his black gloves now extended past his elbows. Maddie couldn’t say for sure what all the changes meant, but the Plasmius form felt a bit more… human, a bit less evil.

“You’d be surprised how little the residents of Amity Park notice,” he said, morphing back to human. He was wearing his green and gold jumpsuit, ready to work in the lab. Mondays and Wednesdays were lab days. The rest of the week he wore the suit, visited the Fenton Works research lab they had purchased and performed other administrative duties. Thursdays were team meetings so Jack, Maddie and Vlad could make sure their fledgling company was coordinated. They only had four employees at the moment, but profits had already tripled percentage wise with Vlad’s guidance.

“What?” Vlad asked, and Maddie realized she’d been staring.

“How often do you work out? I swear you’re almost as buff as Plasmius now,” Maddie asked, noticing once more how form-fitting the jumpsuit was becoming. “I think I’ll need to get you a size up,” she frowned.

He laughed. “You do know yours and Jack’s are equally skintight, correct? Shall I take it as a compliment? Have you finally succumbed to my charms?”

His tone was gentle and friendly, the friendly ribbing of a friend rather than a direct come-on.

“Hmm,” Maddie pretended to consider. “Nah, I think I’m more of a chubby chaser.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Jack said, descending the stairs a bit late, as usual. “I can’t imagine a world without fudge. Lots of fudge.”

“Never change, Jack,” Vlad snorted. “To answer your question though, it’s part of my daily routine now. It relaxes me.”

“Got something for you, Vlad,” Jack said, digging around in a box.

“Wait, Jack,” Maddie said quickly. He really had no sensitivity sometimes.

“Vlad,” Maddie said quickly, redirecting his attention. “Remember how I promised we would continue researching the anti-ectoplasm?”

“Yes,” his face had closed off. “I also recall asking you not to bring it up again unless you’d killed the Master.”

“That’s the thing, V-man,” Jack said, holding out a twisted bit of metal. “We did.”

Vlad looked at what Jack was holding in confusion. It was a simple metal object, maybe iron, molded like a closed fist. The little iron fist gripped a thin chain. The clasp was undone.

Slowly a look of dawning comprehension crossed Vlad’s face. He took a step forward and reached out as if to take it – before rapidly lowering his hand and taking two steps back.

“Is that … the Master’s medallion?” He asked hesitantly.

“The Monkey’s paw,” Maddie confirmed. “We killed him – he exploded rather – and this was in what was left.”

Vlad was breathing a little unsteadily. “Thank you- but- could you please, just… just get rid of it, would you?”

He averted his eyes from it. Jack quickly lowered the object and hid it behind his back.

“We were going to turn it over to Clockwork when Danny got back to show us the way,” Maddie said, watching him carefully.

“That’s … good, that’s good.”

“Are you ok?”

He let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know. I’m relieved, but yet I’m terrified, happy he’s dead, angry I didn’t kill him myself, I don’t kn- I just don’t know.”

Vlad ran a hand through his hair. “I’m going to… take the day off, to clear my head. Sorry about this.”

“No, it’s fine,” Maddie said quickly. “Sorry for springing it on you like that.”

“The way you did it was fine, don’t worry,” he said quickly. “I think a part of me just never accepted that it was truly over and now… I don’t know what to do with myself. I’ll be back.”

Plasmius was back – before he was invisible and simply gone.

 

_10:00 am, Monday, November 26 th, Vlad’s Wisconsin Mansion_

_~Vlad~_

Vlad hadn’t even been aware he could fly that fast. In a matter of only two hours he had shot practically clean across the country. He’d broken sound barriers. Now that he was ‘home’ he wasn’t sure why he’d come.

Vlad hadn’t set foot in the Mansion since he became mayor. It was cleaned once a week per his instruction, but it felt… empty. The apartment was much homier. It had his cat too.

The Master was dead. Dead. The mere fact that he was gone suddenly made Vlad realize how much he had changed. It was scared him.

He floated room to empty room and observed. The portraits all containing his visage in varying self-important poses. The statues. Garbage, the lot of it – just posing, narcissism to mask insecurity. He wanted to smash them all but didn’t want to have to call the cleaning crew to explain the mess, and he didn’t want them to call him about a break in. The death of the Master signaled an end to a phase of his life, and it felt like things should revert back to ‘normal’ for some reason. As if, with his death, everything would suddenly snap back to the way it was before.

Remembering how things were versus how they were now was somehow alarming. This mansion wasn’t his home anymore. Scratch that, it had never been a home. He hadn’t allowed it to be. It was a dwelling, nothing more. A place to show off his wealth and scrape for power amongst ghosts and men. Now it was simply a building. A stranger’s mansion.

He should sell it.

The thought occurred suddenly. Vlad hadn’t quite been able to bring himself to part with his fortune, but he had at least stopped himself from frivolously spending it, and he now lived comfortably within his means. He could retire now, live easily for the rest of his life. But he loved Fenton Works, more than he had even loved Vladco. Fenton Works didn’t belong to him, he shared it, but everything it was, it was because Vlad and his friends had made it so. No tricks, no law breaking, just raw accomplishment.

But this mansion? Ill-gotten gains, pettiness and pride. The Master was gone. Before he had arrived, Vlad had longed to return to his Wisconsin manor quite often. Now he was uncomfortable here.

Vlad floated to glare balefully at his portrait atop the fireplace, larger than life. The portrait was smirking. Strange to think he had thought himself smiling when he’d posed for it. But he could see it now, how self-important that grin was, how arrogant, how self-assured. It had come naturally to him. How false it had all been. Vlad could smile like that, if he made himself. But it was no longer a natural thing. Now he was shy. Hesitant. Self-doubt and self-depreciation. He was working on that with Dr. Gelding, but… did he want his old normal?

Impulsively, Vlad burned a hole through the portrait with his eyes. No. No he did not.

For even if Vlad jumped out of his skin when touched unexpectedly, even if there were days when he struggled to look at himself in the mirror, and even if he no longer raked in a massive salary and world domination seemed the ridiculous dream of a child who didn’t know better – Vlad had new things.

His smiles were genuine now, born of happiness. His happiness didn’t come at the expense of others either.

He wasn’t lonely.

That in itself was amazing, for loneliness had been his one constant companion. Friends. Hell, Dani was suggesting she wanted to move in, and Vlad was seriously considering it, for the more time he spent with her the more he recognized her as an individual, not a ‘thing’ nor an extension of himself. Dr. Gelding was helping him figure out what to do there too. Romance… well, ok, that wasn’t going so well, but he’d been on a handful of dates with several different women, and considering he’d never been on a date in his life, just romantic trysts of sorts, it was an improvement. No plotting. No scheming. Heck, his idea of a good time used to be raiding ghost castles for ancient artifacts; now, cooking dinner for the Fentons seemed a far more enjoyable way to spend the evening. Thinking of Maddie brought feelings of happiness and fondness, not lust and frustration. Thinking of Jack brought a mixture of annoyance, amusement, and friendship instead of hatred, rage and loathing.

Was he really Vlad Masters? Where had he gone? Sure, there were some habits he doubted would ever go away. He was still cynical. His first reaction to spontaneity was still panic and frustration with an overwhelming need to control the situation. He still suspected people who acted friendly of wanting something instead of being pleasant just for the sake of pleasantry – but he was trying to change these things, and that in itself was a sign he was no longer the same man. Mother would think he had gone soft.

_Screw that bitch_ , Vlad thought bitterly. Vlad recognized his narcissism for what it was now, but his mother had never recognized her own. Bitter, cruel, controlling, Vlad had only ever been a way for her to elevate her own social status. She had been miserable. Vlad would be different.

The Master was dead. Vlad was free. For real. Any actions he took were his own. He didn’t have to do anything because he was obligated to. He had made his amends. He was beholden to no one except himself. What did he want?

Vlad stared at the portrait, now missing a head. It was both comical and ominous. A sign perhaps. The Vlad Masters who had inherited this mansion and stood on the threshold filled with hatred, bitterness, and a thirst to take what the world ‘owed him’ by force was dead. Long dead. In fact, he disgusted him. The world had owed him nothing. Maddie had owed him nothing. People were not machines.

A new Vlad Masters had been born. He had flaws, certainly. But he was happier. What’s more, people actually liked the new Vlad. He had friends. True friends. People who knew exactly who he was and accepted him for it. The Master had created the new Vlad, unintentionally or no. Now the Master was dead.

Vlad frowned. No, that wasn’t a fair statement. The Master’s torture may have been a catalyst, but Vlad had chosen how to react. He could have allowed hatred to continue to fuel his actions. He could have taken his violation and decided he was owed by the world for that. The old Vlad would have. Why hadn’t his hatred consumed him?

Vlad floated, frowning. Why?

Perhaps it couldn’t be narrowed down to one event but… Jack. Jack saying he wanted to be friends, and not just play at it. Going to the Fentons for help had been the right decision after all. Opening himself up to them, allowing that honest communication, that decision had saved him. It wasn’t a weakness, _mother_. Friends were a strength. They were.

_I’m a better person_ despite _the Master, not because of him._ Much like he had told Dani. The Master had been an obstacle to overcome. The Master had done his best to break him, mold him into something he could use and play with. He had failed. Vlad had overcome him with the help of his friends.

A sense of calm fell over Vlad and he relaxed. Dead. Over. Vlad had already kickstarted his new beginning. He would continue as he had been. The new Vlad was here to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You made it! Thanks for sticking with this fic. I don't expect to write anything further - I far prefer reading fanfic to writing it, though this was certainly an interesting exercise. I probably could have gone on forever, but this seemed a good place to end it.
> 
> If interested, this fanfic had many inspirations, most of which I blame on other fanfics using a similar plot device of the 'inescapable stalker rapist' that have yet to be finished. Two of them. I got tired of waiting and wrote my own ;) . The fanfic that likely had the greatest influence on my interest in this plot device was likely Used by dreamsofspike in the House fandom (which is finished), though I'm not sure they'd appreciate my inspiration as their fic did a heck of a lot better job of the comfort aspect of the hurt/comfort genre. It also felt the character development was less rushed. Check it out if you like House. I read it some years ago and it's still one of the best fanfics I've ever read. Thanks for reading.


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